The dream started in September 1993 when I received a phone call on my mobile from Ernie Pick while I was at the Oval watching a great game of international cricket. I was, at that moment, in the company of Compton Hellyer of Sporting Index Fame, who was entertaining and hosting a trainer’s day out. Ernie asked if he could call in to see me that afternoon as he was passing on his way back to Yorkshire.

Not really knowing what he wanted I jumped into my car and drove back to Lambourn. Ernie said that he had a horse currently in training on the flat with Julie Cecil called Alderbrook and that he thought he might send him hurdling, would I like to train him? The answer of course was yes, but it was to be another year before anything actually happened. Alderbrook's form on the flat in the mean time progressed.

It was late December 1994 or very early 1995 that Ernie came back into my life. He called in to see me in Lambourn on his way home from Heathrow. Sitting in my sitting room he said that while on holiday he had had a dream that Alderbrook would win the Champion Hurdle and would I like to fulfil his dream for him? A very tall order indeed; Alderbrook might have progressed into a very good flat horse, he had by then won and been placed in Group 2s, but it was a very different story over hurdles. Alderbrook had already run once over hurdles for Sally Hall at Newcastle as a 3 year old when finishing a well beaten 9th of 18.

As dreams go this was a special one. I insisted that Yogi Breisner should take control of schooling and teaching Alderbrook to jump. Yogi was the schooling genius and had so much to do with so many iffy jumpers at that time. It was to take place in total secrecy as nobody was to know what was going on. Alderbrook then left Newmarket to spend some time at Waterstock Equestrian Centre learning to jump; if the exercise proved a failure in Yogi’s eyes, he was to go back to Newmarket and nobody would have known about it. After the planned week Yogi rang me to say that he was struggling with Alderbrook, and thought that he might have to go back to Newmarket. I was horrified and said he could have another 3 days to see if there was any improvement as time was not on our side - the Champion Hurdle was only 8 weeks away! Three days later Yogi rang to say that Alderbrook could now jump. What a relief!

Alderbrook arrived at the Old Manor in Lambourn with 7 1/2 weeks to go before the Champion Hurdle. He was not hugely fit as he had been semi out of training since his last run on the flat in October. So with Eddie Hales, my right hand man, Norman Williamson, my jockey and I planned a campaign to win the Champion Hurdle. I felt it was terribly important that we bypassed any idea of a novice hurdle as Ernie’s dream was not to win the Waterford Supreme Novice at Cheltenham but the Smurfit Champion Hurdle the same day! So his prep race had to be a class act to merit the idea. His first race for us was going to have to be the Kingswell Hurdle at Wincanton taking on some of the best horses around at that time. Not only did we have to get him fit but he had also to learn to jump hurdles at speed, so to help with the fitness we decided to exercise him twice a day to try and help the process and he joined Master Oats in his daily regime.

Two weeks before Wincanton we decided it was time to school over hurdles for the first time at speed, he had done plenty of schooling slowly in my paddock back in the yard. Norman came in to school him with a lead horse called Simple Arithmatic. We watched with anticipation and a fair amount of trepidation! The schooling ground was quiet as planned, except for Eddie Fisher, the Lambourn gallop groundsman and Brian Delaney, Fred Winter’s ex head lad. Norman settled Alderbrook in behind Simple Arithmatic at the first but by the time he reached the second flight of hurdles Alderbrook had taken control and was off, leaping over the second and third hurdle leaving Simple Arithmatic trailing in his wake! We were all gobsmacked! Brian Delaney said that he had never seen a horse go over a hurdle so fast in all his years in racing. The exercise was repeated before it was a dash back to ring the bookies to take a little of the 50/1 on offer!

Wincanton arrived. As always it was bloody cold, not that any of us noticed the weather, we just were terrified that racing might be abandoned and we would miss our prep race. The race went according to plan and Alderbrook won comfortably, not a bad run for your second ever appearance over hurdles; he was now the talking horse for the Champion Hurdle. But most importantly he had jumped like an old hand; mistakes in a Champion Hurdle would ruin any chance we had, but he had taken to it like a duck to water; thanks to all the ground work done by Yogi Briesner.

Cheltenham loomed, neither Norman nor I had ever trained or ridden a winner at the great festival, so the press had a little dig at that. Simple Arithmatic, Alderbrook's lead horse, was an unlucky third in the opener, the Waterford Crystal Novice Hurdle - he might well have won bar making a bad mistake 3 from home, so the omens were good!

Alderbrook and Norman took the Champion Hurdle in their stride, always travelling extremely well. He was still on the bridle turning for home, jumping the last just behind my good mate Oliver Sherwood’s Large Action. Norman gave him a slap and the afterburners were on and off he flashed up the hill to win most impressively, a good flat horse had just become a great Champion Hurdle winner.

Alderbrook returned to Cheltenham a year later to defend his crown. Jockeys were a problem and Graham Bradley lost the ride before he had even sat on him. Ernie was not impressed so he asked Richard Dunwoody to ride Alderbrook; guess what, Graham Bradley beat Richard with Collier Bay - Alderbrook was second!