Course inspector

Richard Linley MBE is the former senior inspector of courses. He tells of a concussed meeting with John McCririck, understanding 400 soil types and the evolution of the going stick

- Kate Johnson

When I got my MBE for services to horseracing in the New Year honours list, I initially thought it was just another circular. I’d had a few from the Conservative party and the envelope said “Cabinet Office”. It was a great surprise and I’m very honoured to receive it.

I was bitten by the racing bug as a teen. A local trainer took me to Aintree and I led up Sir Mark Prescott as a jockey, then went to work for Toby Balding that summer; I considered him and his wife as my second parents.

Whatever you do in racing, you need a bit of luck to get you going. When I turned professional, I won the Irish Sweeps Handicap Hurdle on Decent Fellow, beating the Irish on their own patch, which was quite an event. The horses that stick in your mind are the ones that are exceptionally kind to you. Bybrook was a little mare, tough as old boots, and in my first professional season I won seven races with her.

I had a cruncher of a fall at Sandown and was semi-concussed, lying on the ground. A huge shadow came across, I thought, “Crikey! This is it, St Peter’s waiting for me”. It was John McCririck in a great big cape! He said, “You alright sonny?” and walked off.