Deirdre Johnston on Glorious Goodwood

Mark and I really enjoy coming to Goodwood, so much so that it has remained one of the focal points of our season for more than two decades.

Our stables in Middleham, North Yorkshire, are 285 miles from Goodwood on the magnificent Sussex Downs but that has not prevented us from winning more than our share. Mark has been top trainer at the meeting nine times.

We specifically target the Glorious meeting in late July as we have found that the track suits our horses and their style of running. We detected that very early on. Our first winner at the meeting was The Can Can Man in 1991.

Our pattern is much the same every year. We set off from Yorkshire on Monday, and we are resident at Goodwood for the week, until we return home on Saturday night. We treat it as a working holiday.

As you can imagine, such an extended week can be quite exhausting, but I find that as long as you are having winners, it is very enjoyable. Just as at Royal Ascot, if you draw a blank, it can be a long, hard week. The winners are what it is all about.

The logistics connected with having so many runners so far from home are complex but, I am pleased to say, our hard working stable staff know exactly what to do. There is a plan each day and it is followed to the letter.

Horseboxes are travelling up and down the motorways all week. If a horse is running on, say, the Tuesday, he will arrive at Goodwood the day before. The majority of horses settle in well. They seem to love their trip to the seaside, which is, basically, what it is.

They will have a leg stretch on the morning of the race, usually a hack-canter over three furlongs. It is not on the racecourse itself, but on a small track very close to the golf course.

As soon as they have run their races, they are back on the lorry and making the journey back home. The exceptions are those, who might be called on to run a second time later in the week. We have had a couple of repeat winners over the years, I am pleased to report.

I get to ride many of the good horses that Mark trains. At home, I have been lucky enough to be on some very nice types, and I have my favourites.

Lumiere, who won so well at Newmarket (and might now run at York), is very nice. We have always liked her a lot.

Of ours running this week, I particularly like Notarised in Tuesday's Summer Stakes, Riflescope in Thursday's Richmond Stakes and Oriental Fox in the Goodwood Cup, also on Thursday. Of the two-year-olds, Montsarrat in the nursery on the same card.

Mark has won five Goodwood Cups, with Double Trigger winning three of them. Ron Huggins, one of the great stayer's owners, is throwing a 20th Anniversary party in 'Trigger's' honour on Friday night. Let's hope that caps a great Goodwood week for all of us.

Deirdre Johnston married her childhood sweetheart Mark, and together they have established one of the most successful stables in Britain. A mother of two, and an accomplished horsewoman, she is assistant trainer to Mark and rides out every day. From modest early beginnings on the Lincolnshire coast, Mark has sent out more than 3,500 winners since his first, Hinari Video, at Carlisle in 1987. The proud Scot is long-established at Kingsley House, Middleham, North Yorkshire.