Kanturk's Mick Winters: A man who trains in black and white but paints his life in colour

Colm Greaves meets Kanturk handler Mick Winters, who goes up against the unbackable Envoi Allen in tomorrow's opener with his experienced novice, Chatham Street Lad. ‘Anything can happen on the day’, he smiles

Trainer Michael Winters gives Sayce Gold a roll after cantering at Beale Strand in Co Kerry. Picture: Healy Racing

The Lorry

In the course of a relatively short conversation, Michael Winters twice returns to a situation that seems to be bothering him. There is no room for an extra passenger in the lorry. It’s a week before the Cheltenham Festival and he is sending over a very live contender in Chatham Street Lad. These are the anxious days when patience is scarce and dreams can die on the back of a simple question. Is that a skin rash? Did he step on a stone just then? Did he scope dirty? But it’s a different question that’s troubling Mick Winters, and it’s not about his horse.