IT’S not a trick question, but how many breeders do you find in a winner’s enclosure? There was a bit of an outcry on social media earlier this summer over owners leading their winners into the winner’s enclosure. The groom who looks after the horse, the one who mucks out, goes out in all weathers, should have this privilege and reward, went the argument.

Of course that person is not always the person leading the horse up. You only have to listen to Aidan O’Brien listing the names of those responsible for looking after a big winner to see it’s not a one-person job. But someone who plays a big role in the development of a horse, and who so rarely if ever gets a mention after a success, is the breeder.