Riding, sweating, driving - and no eating: a day in the life of a jockey

Marco Ghiani is smiling. He smiles a lot but his sunny disposition right now is all the more admirable as he is dealing with a snappy two-year-old colt who is determined to leave his mark on the apprentice before the end of second lot.

“He’s a bit cheeky,” Ghiani laughs when asked about the relatively new arrival to the yard of his boss Stuart Williams on Newmarket’s Hamilton Road. “He likes to bite, he’s always trying to get you.”

The Zoffany colt, nicknamed Tyson, is Ghiani’s second ride of the morning, which has now reached 7.30am but started at 5am for the Italian to allow him to reach the stables by 5.45am. As apprentice to Williams, Ghiani has busy mornings before heading off to wherever he may be racing that afternoon or evening.