'I think when you have a good one it inspires everybody'

Alison Swinburn's decision to buy the odd horse every year means that her involvement in racing is quite different to how it used to be a decade ago.

Her father, Peter Harris, and late husband, Derby winning jockey then trainer Walter had taken turns in running a successful training establishment in Hertfordshire that had been a family concern since the 1970s, breeding their own horses and playing a huge part in the growth of ownership syndicates.

"Walter stopped training and my father dispersed his stud in 2011, and at that point we had a lot of mares who had come from two foundation mares, Why So Silent and Connaught Bridge," she explains.