'I felt we could look our ancestors in the eye and say we haven't done too badly'

A black and white sign on the stretch of Snailwell Road where Newmarket’s town becomes countryside marks the discreet entrance to Stanley House Stud.

Its colours and indeed its name denote one of racing’s foremost families as the farm belonging to Edward Stanley, the 19th Earl of Derby, whose predecessors have been involved in the sport since the time it even became one.

Revived in 1893, it is still one of the very oldest studs in Britain to remain in the same hands, but its history is complicated and it was, even quite recently, briefly imperilled.