It's been a solid start and there are good times ahead

This is my last column of the year before I hand over to Sam Twiston-Davies for the winter, so it is time to take stock of where I find myself a year after moving to Weathercock House.

Generally things have gone as well as I could have hoped and I have been very happy with our results – Richard Hughes the trainer has now sent out 41 winners in Britain, a total which gives me plenty of satisfaction.

When I started out in my new career I was under no illusions about how hard this game was going to be. People remember Richard Hughes the jockey often riding the guts of 200 winners each year, but I was never going to start out at that level as a trainer.