'The Derby was my race even before I rode in it. It was the dream'

After 30 years of being asked, Walter Swinburn is as tactically adept at fielding questions about Shergar as he was at riding him to victory on that unforgettable Epsom afternoon, although these days he worries that many of the people listening will be too young to remember what he's talking about.

He shouldn't be unduly concerned - the legend and the memory still resonate and the ink in the history books will never fade, no matter how many Classics pass - but with the Investec Derby looming once more, the 49-year-old now has other issues to occupy him. He's happy to trip lightly down memory lane for our benefit, but he doesn't have a runner in the big race and there are more pressing matters to attend to now that he's a trainer.

"I'm not competing at Group 1 level at the moment," he shrugs, "but the positive is the satisfaction you can get in placing a 0-55 horse to win the 9.15 at Wolverhampton, to be standing there shouting at the TV and needing it as badly as ever. I can't say it was always like that when I was riding. The energy wasn't always there for that."