Feared a little but loved a lot: Britain's answer to Vincent O'Brien

There was a timely reminder of one of the great characters of the turf from another of the same stature when Sir Mark Prescott recalled the combustible but charismatic Captain Ryan Price in a compelling interview with Lee Mottershead last Sunday.

"Nobody loved Ryan Price when he was 45 or 50 but we all loved him in the end," Prescott said, self-deprecatingly making the point that "if you can hang on long enough, people will warm to you".

"I told the doctor I give ulcers, I don't get them," was the pay-off to Prescott's tale about an episode involving Price, the former member of No6 Commando who distinguished himself during the battle for Normandy. He was also an expletive machine gun.