Mutual respect

Racing yards all have their own character, some pretty as picture books, some run like military camps. Down a muddy lane in deepest Hampshire Emma Lavelle’s stables are all about cheerful teamwork. At the top of her gallops last week we were reflecting how the great Vincent O’Brien insisted on having the straw in each box perfectly plaited, a bowl of water at the barn door to ensure his boots remained sparkling. At Emma’s Cottage Stables, the rooks were cawing in ivy-clad trees as the trainer stood in puffer jacket and jeans amid the circle of horses clattering on the tarmac, O’Brien might have raised an eyebrow at the cheerful clutter, the easy informality of trainer and staff. Our chat in her office, a flint and brick former cowshed, was punctuated by lads coming and going to fill buckets at the sink. But this is training 2006-style, based less on authority than on mutual respect.