When I was a little girl, the highlight of my year was to sit on my rocking horse, and watch the television coverage of the Horse of the Year Show at Wembley. My hero was Harvey Smith, riding Harvester, or O’malley, to name just a couple of his legendary horses.

Rather like the late Baroness Margaret Thatcher, Harvey has always courted a love/hate relationship with the British public, after finding notoriety with the famous V sign, after winning at the all England Jumping arena. As a horseman, he was born to ride and always happy to share his knowledge and invest his time. In his Channel 4 Racing interview after victory in the great race on Saturday, Ryan Mania, was happy to give credit to the legend that Harvey is. (more…)