TL: What was your earliest racing memory, and was being a jockey something you always wanted to do?

MD: My dad loved racing and I grew up near Aintree Racecourse. My dad always had the racing on the television and he was always having a bet. My first memory was Slip Anchor winning the 1985 Derby and I remember watching it and was mesmerised by it.

TL: Born in Liverpool, you moved down to Ian Balding’s yard in Kingsclere at 15 years old as an apprentice. What was that like, and what did you learn riding there?

MD: I learned to ride to a certain standard and I rode ponies in a local farm where I learned to help out and I got free riding lessons. It was my dad’s decision to send me to Ian Balding. He followed the Balding yard religiously, and he said that Ian was very good with apprentices.

I was more or less part of the Balding family once I showed to them that I was willing to work and willing to learn. They were just fantastic and changed the course of my life.

TL: You rode the first of your 1,543 winners aboard Susquehanna Days for Ian Balding in July 1993 and, four years later in 1997, you rode your first group winner on Halmahera, also for Ian, in the Cornwallis Stakes. Do you have any special memories riding those winners?

MD: You never forget your first winner and it was for Ian Balding in those famous colours of Paul Mellon, the Mill Reef colours. I rode my first group winner for Ian and it was incredible. I remember it because I have a funny story about it. After I crossed the line, I punched the air and waved my whip and celebrated.

Ian said: “Fantastic, well done,” and then said to me “Come over to the house tonight, I want to speak to you”. I rang my dad and I said: “Dad, this is it, he must want me to be stable jockey. This must be it!” Ian said to me: “You need to decide if you are going to be a jockey or a clown” for waving my whip in the air and celebrating after the line!

TL: Which trainers or fellow jockeys have influenced you along the way?

MD: Ray Cochrane was a massive help to me and Pat Eddery was an absolute legend and was the nicest man you will ever meet. He was a big help through my career, and he always helped me out and I spoke to him a lot at the races.

I used to watch jockeys like Dettori and try to ride with him and pick things up that they did. Mick Kinane was another example. The first time I rode in a good listed race I tried to barge him out of the way to get a run, and he literally put me back in a pocket. Without moments like that you cannot learn and improve.

TL: You rode Sir Percy for Marcus Tregoning in 2006 to win the Derby. What was that like, and how special was it to win the Derby?

MD: It was incredible to win one of the biggest races in the world. It was great to ride in a race like that and to win it was a day I will never forget.

Whatever happens in the future, you will always be down as a Derby winner and to do it for Marcus Tregoning, who was a big supporter of mine and a very good friend, and the style in which it happened, was just amazing. It was as important as anything and my dad was there to watch it.

TL: Persian Punch, Casual Look, who gave you your first Group 1 and classic by winning the Oaks in 2003 and Phoenix Reach: what are your strongest memories of those three horses, and are there any other top-class horses that hold a special place in your memory?

MD: Persian Punch was an amazing horse and he had his own character. Winning the Goodwood Cup on him was an amazing day I will never forget. He was an incredible racehorse and he put me on the map.

Casual Look’s classic was Andrew Balding’s first year training. To win a classic at Epsom was amazing and it felt like I was repaying the Baldings back for everything they had done for me and the whole family, not just Andrew and Ian.

Clare was there working for the BBC and she was stuck for words interviewing her brother and father.

Phoenix Reach won Group 1 races in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and he won the Dubai Sheema Classic too. He was well campaigned globally and he was also the horse who helped me get over my inferiority complex of riding against some of the best jockeys in the world.

TL: Pyledriver was another well-known horse that you were associated with and you rode him to win the 2021 Coronation Cup, becoming one of the few jockeys to win three Group 1 races at Epsom (Derby, Oaks and the Coronation Cup). How special was that achievement, and what was Pyledriver like to ride?

MD: Pyledriver was a very talented horse. It was a great thrill to win the Coronation Cup for my father-in-law William Muir. It was his first Group 1 winner and William had worked so hard for it. Sometimes he was not the most straightforward horse to work with. He could get a bit keen if he got in behind and to win that race was great.

There have been times when I have had winners and you think, well, the horse was the best horse and everything went right, the horse won. But there have been times when you know you have done a good job. Then to say that I have won all three Group 1s at Epsom was a special feeling. I did the Derby draw this year with Willie Carson and I had that over him, and I really enjoyed that.

TL: You’ve ridden internationally. How does racing abroad compare to the UK?

MD: Everywhere is slightly different, and if you are going abroad you have to get your head around the tracks and rules and then adjust. I firmly believe that some of the best jockeys, if you can hold your own in England, Ireland and France, you can go anywhere in the world and ride because it is so competitive in England and Ireland.

If you make the grade here and you go abroad, as long as you familiarise yourself with the tracks and rules you are good to go.

TL: What qualities do you think separate the good jockeys from the great ones?

MD: I was lucky enough to ride against some great jockeys, and I think there are some jockeys who get to a very good level and can be an effective jockey and win some top races, but I think to have everything and be a great jockey, you have got to have quick thinking and be able to read a race before it happens.

TL: Injuries forced you to retire from the saddle in 2023 and since then you have been working for Racing TV as a pundit. What is that like and how much preparation is required before a programme?

MD: You have to do lots of prep. You cannot just show up and look at a race, but I really love it. I am so lucky I stopped riding and I had something to go into because so many jockeys stop and it is, like, what do they do next?

It is great to still be involved. I went to Killarney early in the year to film a special, and what a place.

TL: What is the one lesson from racing that you still carry with you into everyday life?

MD: If you are willing to work hard enough and be confident, you can achieve anything, and that has been a thing in my life. I ended up working in racing and made a career out of it and travelled the world.