'I used to agree something couldn't be done - and then go and do it anyway'

"People used to tell me something couldn't be done, and I'd agree with them, then go and do it anyway. They'd say 'you can’t go there'. I'd say 'I know'. And I'd go there."

It wasn't just a contrary streak to his nature that made Clive Brittain swim against the tide for much of his 44 years as a trainer.

"Everything I do, I do for a reason," he was fond of saying as he marshalled operations from his base on Newmarket's Bury Road, and that was no more true than when he hit the road, crossed the water or took to the skies in search of rewarding opportunities for his horses.