Racing: New Seeker and Cox in perfect harmony

Nonetheless this breakthrough, such as it is, confirms an authentic elevation in status for his trainer. Clive Cox trains just 38 horses at the top of a leafy lane that climbs out of Lambourn on to the sumptuous sweep of Beechdown, and has run barely two dozen so far this season, yet they have already accumulated £300,000 in prizemoney.

Cox will not be succumbing to delusions of grandeur, however, being painfully versed in the abrupt shifts of fortune on the Turf. As a jockey, he rode no more than 100 winners but he did find himself on the favourite in the 1988 Grand National, Sacred Path. "We fell at the first. After all that build-up and anticipation, it was like a bad dream," he said. "I still have the picture in my front room, just as a reminder - not that I am likely to forget - of what racing can be like."

Not that he has any difficulty restoring perspective on the essential triviality of his despair that day. Cox took up a post as assistant to Mikey Heaton-Ellis, who had been confined to a wheelchair since a riding accident at 22 and would later fall prey to motor-neurone disease. "He died six years ago this week, aged 41 - the same age I am now," Cox said. "It was a great honour to be involved with Mikey. He was a very strong individual, and a great tutor in life."

All this had been earnestly absorbed when Cox moved to Lambourn the following year, but the foundations of his success were laid earlier: the stockmanship of his father, a Somerset farmer, or the summers riding work in California, or the wily input of Matt McCormack.

"He trained five Royal Ascot winners, and I still talk to him a lot," Cox said. "I used to ride his jumpers on the track and work his Flat horses. I realised that they gave me more of a buzz than three-mile chasers. But it was basically a commercial decision to concentrate on the Flat. I don't think I'd ever want to train more than 45 horses, because I'm a great believer in attention to detail - and with jumpers the potential for injury is such that you would need a deeper back-up squad."

Cox found New Seeker at Fairyhouse for just Ir£30,000, others having considered him too cumbersome. "It must be said that to carry off that sort of size, you have to be a serious athlete," Cox admitted. "But I have always preferred those with the scope to mature, rather than the obvious sorts ready to run in April. After all, the day it becomes an exact science is the day we'll all be second. You just have to know what type of canvas you think you can start from."

Sure enough, at three New Seeker won two valuable prizes at Ascot and, after a fallow year and castration, has now found fresh improvement, rallying indomitably from the front in the Hunt Cup and then the Tote International. The runner-up has since run a close second in group one company at Deauville and there is no question that New Seeker is equipped to join the élite. "Gelding has helped him physically," Cox explained. "Last year he was getting a bit heavy in the neck and shoulders. He has streamlined a bit, and is certainly on a high now. A lot of credit must go to Philip Robinson, who has given him enormous confidence."

Cox has no need of the communal facilities in Lambourn, with seven furlongs of woodchip and three turf gallops ascending from the plunging downland. It is instructive that Cox tends to harrow them himself at first light. Some trainers call themselves "hands-on" if they light their own cigarettes. But Cox was full of honest enthusiasm as he stood on the crest of the gallop, surveying the voluptuous, tranquil landscape.

"When you're getting results, you gain confidence in what you are doing," he said. "Success is infectious, especially within the yard. And I am enjoying every minute. It's a big merry-go-round we're on, and I know not to take anything for granted."

Richard Edmondson

Nap: Home Affairs (Salisbury 4.15)

NB: Wujood (Sandown 4.35)