YOU’LL have heard this one before, way back in the day, when you were supposed to be listening but of course you weren’t. Here it is again, in admonitory tones: hard work is its own reward.

Your mother, your father, your teacher,your priest told you that, and they were right. But you’ll never hear a trainer tell you that, because in that hard game of endless work they need something extra to sweeten the deal.