Emilie Seigle, groom of Absurde

“He’s my best mate. You can’t imagine what it’s like travelling across the world with him for the last two years.

“He’s different and has huge character. He’s complex. With him, you don’t have only one way – it’s a partnership. You don’t tend to use the stick with him. It’s almost like he says ‘okay, I know, I know – if you give me 100%, I’ll give 100% too.’

“This year he’s more mature, more confident in himself. Sometimes he wants to bite me, then a few seconds later he wants a cuddle.

“As a horse, Willie has shown a lot of patience with him and always said to give him time.

“I watched from just before the last hurdle at Cheltenham, when he won in March and, as he came up the hill, I think the [smart] watch on my arm would have been flashing ‘warning, warning, alarm, alarm’ for my heart. I was crying afterwards. It’s a unique sensation.

“My nerves will be terrible in the few hours before the race on Tuesday. I find it even hard in those moments to smile and speak to people. I’m really bad!

“We go everywhere and there’s a lot of sacrifice made to travel with him. I sacrifice my holidays, my life, my family life - I do it for him. Absurde is our universe. Me and my family gravitate around him. The time we spend together is special.”

Adam Connolly, groom of Vauban

“If I had to describe what sort of character Vauban is, I’d say he’s cheeky. He’d bite you and kick you with a smile, and has always been that way. A few people have got on the receiving end of it, including myself once. We learned!

“I’m happy with him here; he’s still trying to bite you and kick you, and when he’s like that, he’s in good form.

“He took the travel well. We had seven hours on the ground in Singapore and the two horses probably ate and drank the most at that point, they might have drunk 20 or 30 litres. It’s my first time to do this trip, but I was happy when I saw them doing that.

“In terms of his races, at times it looks like he’s going to take off, but can idle a bit - you saw that at York. He took it up two furlongs out and started looking around himself at the furlong pole.

“It’s brilliant to be here. I’m sure there will be a good buzz back at home in the yard too, with people getting up to watch the race.

“This is why you do what you do, to be involved in these big days. You’re now on the other side of the world, getting paid to look after horses... If you told me that as a kid, I wouldn’t believe you.”