Early Days: I used to skip off school and my dad would take me to the Cheltenham Festival. We usually went on Champion Hurdle day, so I remember all those fantastic early seventies hurdlers, Bula, Comedy of Errors, Lanzarote, Birds Nest, Night Nurse, Dramatist, Captain Christy etc.. Further back when I was nine or ten and starting to take interest in racing (ITV seven on a Saturday afternoon) the likes of Nijinsky, MillReef, Brigadier Gerard piqued my interest and set me on the course my life was to take.

 

From the first time I set foot on a racecourse I was totally hooked, it was all I wanted to do - not necessarily to become a jockey - I just wanted to be involved within the sport. I started to write letters to trainers in and around the Lambourn area in early 1976. I ended up having an interview with Patrick Haslam and I had a job ready as soon as I left school.

 

Positions: Coming into racing I was apprenticed to Patrick Haslam, I was signed to him for 5 years and in those days that pretty much meant you were a slave to your trainer for very little pay. Around 15 months later I moved to another local trainer in Lambourn, Duncan Sasse (late 1977) I had a few rides for him without any success. During my time with Duncan as well as being his apprentice I took over travelling head lad duties, mostly because I took most of the runners racing (we were only a small yard with 20/30 horses).

 

I then worked for Barry Hills in Lambourn (1981 to 1986), then I moved to the Manton estate with  him where I stayed until 1989. Then I moved to Australia to work for John Hawkes and Colin Hayes as a "strapper/work rider". Later that year I returned to England and went back to Barry Hills'.

 

Late 1991 Peter Chapple-Hyam took over at Manton and I stayed with him to become second head lad, a post I carried on for John Gosden when Peter left in 1999. In 2003 Peter returned to England (he had been training in Hong Kong) and set up base in Newmarket. He asked me to come and be a head lad, so after a weekend stay with him I accepted and moved to Newmarket where I stayed working for him until I decided to call it a day in November 2018.

 

Best Horses:  This could be a long answer! I have been extremely lucky over the years to have ridden and worked with some wonderful horses.When I was at Duncan Sasse's we won the 2000 Guineas with Roland Gardens. He wasn't even close to the best horses I have been involved with but the fact we were such a small yard made it special and "Roland" remains my favorite horse.

 

At Barry Hills being a "big" yard we had plenty. Motovato, Cormorant Wood, Sure Blade, Gildoran, Desirable, Kind of Hush, whilst we were in Lambourn. And from Manton, Gallic League, Scenic, Silk Slippers, Distant Relative, Handsome Sailor, Sir Harry Lewis - and of course the wonderful Nomadic Way and his Cheltenham exploits. There are many more from my time with Mr Hills but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.

 

So into the Manton Years with P. C-H., too many to mention.. Dr Devious, Rodrigo De Triano, White Muzzle, Turtle Island, Chief Contender, Cape Verdi, Balanchine, City Honours, Spectrum, Commander Collins, Polaris Flight, Revoque, Victory Note, Carmine Lake, Single Empire, Close Conflict, Colonel Collins, Morgana and so many more.

 

Moving onto Mr Gosden's I was fortunate to work with the likes of Oasis Dream, Observatory, Lahan, Sulk, Crystal Music, Zenda, Malhub, Mount Abu and a fair few more. Whilst at Newmarket with Pete we had the likes of African Dream, Dutch Art, Authorized, Tariq and Marcel. Now I do not claim to have ridden all of these, many were for the same trainer but in a different stable block, but I rode quite a lot of them.

 

Favourites: The aforementioned Roland Gardens was just a smashing horse. He could be exuberant out squealing and bucking yet in a race was as lazy as you could get. Hence he had two runs before the 2000 Guineas (which was unheard of) because we could not get him fit at home. (I did manage to ride this fella, exciting as an 18 year old!)

 

Kind of Hush. After a week at Barry Hills I was down on the board to ride Kind of Hush on a walk morning. I thought they must think I was an ok rider as he was one of the best in the yard. He then jig jogged for the whole exercise and I quickly realised why I was on him... I rode him on walking days pretty much all the time after that.. We all won loads of money on him at Royal Ascot!

 

Gildoran, twice winner of the Ascot Gold Cup - yes we won money on this fella but he was so much more, big gawky, wall eyed he did not look like a racehorse! I led him up on his second appearance on a racecourse, (well behind first time up), and he was so green it was laughable. He took off in the parade when we legged Bob Street up and sauntered round to finish fourth, (the winner won 25 lengths!). After 2 or 3 unsuccessful attempts as a 3 year old he won an apprentice race ridden by Kevin Wiley and from there on in he just got better. So many great memories of this fella - drunken nights in The Lamb after each of his victories - oh and my future boss Peter Chapple-Hyam looked after him!

 

Nomadic Way was another favourite. He was not a quick horse but he was as tough as old boots and gave his all every time. A cracking personality and for the most part a great ride, but on occasion he would wander off course with you into a field or to pick grass but hey-ho -  he was good so he was allowed!

 

African Dream. In our first season at Newmarket Pete C-H claimed a horse out of a claimer one Saturday afternoon. The following day the other head lad with me phoned me and said the horse was lame/moving very poorly whilst being led out. The vet was summoned.  There as no obvious reason for the lameness, so he said would check again following morning. To cut a long story short this was just how he moved, he always looked lame but he wasn't. I looked after and rode him every day and it was just how he was. He won a conditions race 10 lengths hard held, then a decent handicap 4 lengths, again hard held, and then he followed that up with two Group 3 Classic Trials. (He couldn't run in the Derby as he was a gelding.) Then he ran a creditable race in the Eclipse Stakes albeit given an awful ride. Not bad for a £20,000 claimer!

 

Personality wise Chief Contender springs to mind. He would rear constantly and fair play to Alan Findley who rode him most of the time - he never lost his temper just accepted this was who he was and rode him accordingly. Turtle Island was a character.. he would disappear through trees and bushes, rear up for fun and was pretty nasty to boot. I led him up when won the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. In the pre-parade ring he behaved abominably rearing, trying to have a go at me and anything close by. He got his leg over the rein and I had to quickly let go and gather said rein back quick, but he won and the lads said they had never seen me smile so much leading one in - part relief, part I backed him!

 

Rodrigo De Triano was the opposite. When he arrived as a 2 year old he cowered in his box frightened of his own shadow. At first you could not move on him to adjust your girth or irons because he was so highly strung, but he was looked after by a top class lad Rory O"Dowd who gave him confidence and turned him into a fantastic horse. he was a late foal and we were already having 2 year old winners well before he even started galloping.

 

I looked after a very fast filly called Cambrian Hills who had won both her races - the second being the Champagne Stakes at Salisbury, very easily beating a horse of Richard Hannon's who previously had been just beaten in the Norfolk at Royal Ascot. Anyway one morning I was in riding her in a gallop with a lead horse and Rodrigo. The orders were to let her enjoy herself as she would be too good for her galloping companions. I moved past the lead horse a furlong and a half from the top of the gallop, only for Rodrigo to come flying past me and disappear into the distance Walking back from the gallop one of the lads said to me "you must be gutted with Rodrigo doing that to you". I replied "not at all I know mine is good  - how f***ing good is he?"

 

Most Memorable Days: Phew this is difficult, there have been so many. Roland Gardens' 2000 guineas win obviously. Cormorant Wood winning the Champion Stakes in 1983 - she just blossomed during the late summer/autumn months and we were very confident despite her big price (18/1 SP and we got better odds backing her ante-post. I watched the race in a bar at Kempton races, needless to say the champagne flowed freely! We had so many at Manton hard. Dr Devious's Derby win as it was only Peter's second season training and it was such a close knit community, that was pretty special.

On a personal note regarding horses I have looked after myself, Albert Hall completing a hat trick of wins in 12 days after finishing second five or six times in succession including being disqualified was great! African Dream winning the Sandown Classic trial was a special day. All these days were great but the day Cheddar George won a little handicap race at Newmarket on a Friday night has to be my personal favorite. We got George from Brian Meehans as a 4yo maiden. He had been heavily backed by the lads there a couple of times and been beaten, so they were glad to see the back of him. When we started to train him he would duck all over the place whilst riding him. As I had decided to look after him and ride him all the time I put a sheepskin noseband on him and led the string each day.  (It turned out he was kicked in the head by another horse in his younger days.) Anyway he worked fantastic and won on his first outing for us.

After a couple of poor runs he bled badly and was given to the yard as a lead horse/hack. Eventually I just used to ride him out on his own to watch the string canter etc.. As I loved him so much I let him get away with anything he did, so then he started to take the mickey big time, culminating in him taking off with me down a hill at Warren Hill. He was just picking grass, then he picked his head up and away we went! In the yard I said to Pete we ought to run him he is so well. Pete had a look and entered him for a race at Newmarket, the plan just to let him have a run, nothing too stressfull as he had done no gallops, he had just been hacking about. Well he gave me an awful time leading him up he was so fresh. George Baker got legged up and I told just to let him enjoy himself as he obviously was not fit. Then Victor (who/saddled him up) and I stood by the tote building on the July course and watched him never come off the bridle and win a head. Leading him in you cross the paddock to the winners enclosure and lads from our yard and other local yards were shaking my hand and what a cheer going into the enclosure - all for a 73 rated a handicapper. It was a wonderful evening.

If I was in charge of racing:  I think racing to a certain extent is fine, it's not going away. And yes I am referring to the Animal Rights faction who only show interest in the sport when it's the Grand National, Derby, Melbourne Cup, Breeders Cup etc., extremists who when questioned know nothing about what they are protesting against. Racing though needs to tread carefully and not give these loons any cause to protest. That means (and this is my personal opinion only), in the USA you have got to stop the use of Bute within at least 8 days prior to racing. It is a painkiller and should only be used to help a horse through an injury - not so the horse can run whilst injured. Lasix should be stopped too.

In England we have a shortage of grooms yet trainers who constantly moan about the situation continue to accept horses into their yards. Having said that I have no idea how to resolve this situation, the days of looking after 3 in an evening are over and I don't care what anyone says - you cannot look after 4/5/6 horses in an hour properly!!

Enough of that I am winding myself up!

Music/Artists: Oh this could be a long answer (I hear you all groan..!) Pretty much I love all types of music, although I am not overkeen on jazz, reggae or rap but some I can listen too.

Favorite bands: Jethro Tull, Uriah Heep, Iron Maiden, Marillion to name a few and I saw all these bands live in their prime. The bands mentioned tend to lean toward rock/metal but contrary to what my friends think I do not only enjoy this sphere, I also love to listen to music by Gene Pitney, Dionne Warwick, The Monkees, the best singer ever Scott Walker, France Gall, Talk Talk, Ultravox (John Foxx era), The Damned, The Jam,The Buzzcocks and more recently Nightwish, Sirenia, LInea Aspera (anything Alison Lewis is involved in), Soley,Grimes, Anna Von Hausswolff and my current favorite band Kaelan Mikla. So a pretty mixed bag eh!

Books: I like music reference books e.g. Tapestry of Delights, Scented Gardens of the Mind etc., history books, horror/crime novels (By Reason of Insanity by Shane Stevens is a must read),  old racing biographies, The Pentecost family books by Eric Malpass (written in the 60/70s, very pastoral/English) and I still read on occasion Asterix the Gaul! Oh nearly forgot Brideshead Revisited - read it every year.

Films: I will just list some go to films I can watch again and again; The Back to the Future trilogy; Doc Hollywood; The Birds; EvilDead (all 3), Inglorious Bastards; Eraserhead; The Warriors; First Exit to Brooklyn; Gangs of New York; Rita,Sue and Bob too; l Local Hero; Gregorys Girl; Devils Rejects; Near Dark; Kidulthood/Adulthood; Tenerbrae; Deep Red; Little Big Man; L'aventura.

Actors/Actress: Sarah Lancashire, David Tennant, Emilia Fox, Tanya Roberts, Tom Hanks, Michael J Fox.

Writers: Eric Malpass, Tolkien, Stephen King, Graham Masterton, Jasper Fforde, Stephen Donaldson, Angela Marsons.

6 guests at a dinner party: For me it would have to be a night in the pub. I would invite, Mick Box lead guitarist with Uriah Heep, always wanted to meet him, great guitarist and loves a pint. Steve Coppell, ex Reading manager, close between him and Brian McDermot, but Steve got us in the Premier League and kept us in (briefly). Eric Morcambe and Ernie Wise, my childhood heroes - never missed them and those Christmas specials! Sir Mark Prescott for his wonderful storytelling and Liz Hurley.... no explanation necessary and she's sitting next to me!!

Peace and love... Potter