ON meeting Steve Charlton, it isn’t difficult to believe that he used to be a jockey.

He has the stature of a jockey, the powerful frame of a jockey – he even walks like a jockey.

He has the quick wick and intelligence common to the profession, and his eyes light up when he talks about the sport which has become more than a job – it’s a way of life.

Now aged 64, Steve – a father-of-two from High Etherley, near Bishop Auckland – is no longer a jockey.

But he has retained his connections with a sport which has been a part of his life since he was 14, when he went into stables with the late Arthur Stephenson at his Leasingthorne yard.

“It was a very hard school, says Steve. “But if you showed a bit of aptitude, he gave you a chance.”

He stayed with the canny dual-code trainer for four years.

After putting on a little weight, he moved to Taffy Williams – a trainer based near Rushyford – and started riding over the jumps, before moving on to Clifford Webb at Bridlington.

“I rode for a few owners, but I was very middle of the road,” he says. “Looking back, I was very undedicated – as most of use were in those days. I liked to party a bit more than they do now.

“The jockeys are regularly tested for alcohol these days. I don’t think any of us would have passed in my day. It wasn’t just me – it’s a hard game and it was ‘work hard, play hard’.”

Despite his modesty, Steve had a decent career – “nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it” – with his biggest winner coming on a horse called Kelso Chant in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in 1978.

But his racing days were numbered when his suffered a fall and broke his leg.

“I felt my bottle wasn’t quite as good as it had been and so I decided to become a jockeys’ valet,” he says.

When it came, his change of career was as swift as many of his rides.

Normally it took three years as assistant to a master valet before you could get a licence, but there was a a vacancy and the Jockey Club made an exception.

Steve had five rides at Ayr on a Saturday and on Monday at Newcastle, he was a valet.

Over the last 30-odd years he has built up his business to be one of the most respected valet’s in the game. He covers all of the National Hunt courses in the North and has looked after many of the sport’s top names.

He is essentially the kit man, dealing with all of the jockey’s equipment – britches, all of the clothing, boots and silks.

Most jockeys now have all of their own gear these days, one of a number of changes he has seen over the years.

“When I started, all I had was a hat and a whip and that was it and the valet provided everything else,” he says.

“Now a young lad coming in for his first ride will have new britches, boots, whip, hat, saddle – everything. I don’t think they realise how lucky they are, these kids.”

He feels lucky to still be involved in the sport he loves.

“Everyone who has ridden on a regular basis will tell you that they don’t miss the riding, the falls and everything else that goes with it. It’s not all highs, there’s a lot of downs.

“What everyone misses is the craic in the weighing room. It’s close knit in there. They won’t give each other an inch on the track but the camaraderie back in that room is second to none, and to a man I’d say that’s what they miss.”

That buzz is especially evident on big race days, like the Grand National. As a valet, he feels a sense of personal pride when the jockey he is looking after is successful.

“There is a rivalry between the valet firms at Aintree – everyone wants to have the winning jockey and you do feel proud when they come in.

“I’ve had six or seven national winners now – for example Richard Guest, Timmy Murphy, Graham Lee. Tony Dobbin was one of mine when he won on Lord Gyllene the year the race was moved to Monday after bomb threats. It’s always a proud moment shared among the group.”

And he got a great thrill when Tiger Roll, ridden by ‘his man’ Davy Russell, won this year’s renewal.

Using “a bit of guile” he was able to obtain the horse’s saddlecloth and has donated half of it to the Great North Air Ambulance Service to auction off.

“The air ambulance a facility that we never had. If a jockey gets seriously concussed or injured on a racecourse, time can be of the essence.

“They provide a great service for racing, as well as the general public. We could all have the need for them at some stage.”