As a child in the pit village of Eldon Lane, David Thompson dreamed of working in racing, as he told Colin Woods.

DAVID THOMPSON'S dream of becoming a fully-fledged racehorse trainer came true in the spring of 2003 when he was awarded his licence after 25 years of hard graft in the business.

David's a proper North-East lad, hailing from the pit village of Eldon Lane, near Bishop Auckland.

But coal, as he explained, was never going to play any part in his future, because it was racehorses that were always to the forefront of his mind.

"First of all, " he said, "I wanted to be a jockey. My granny used to have the racing on the TV and I was glued to it.

"Denys Smith's stables were nearby and I went there when I was about ten, just messing around the place at weekends to start with.

"When I left school in 1978, my dad took me back to see Denys on Sunday and he started me the next day.

"Within a year, I had my Flat jockey's licence and rode a couple of winners though, unfortunately, I got a bit heavy so switched to jumps.

"In all, I rode 26 winners over hurdles. The highlight was finishing about fifth aboard Rivers Edge in the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

"There were 30 runners and I was upsides the eventual winner, Floyd, most of the way.

"I've never been so fast in all my life - the roar of the crowd as we got to the second last was unbelievable.

"I thought for a moment we had a chance, then didn't quite get home.

"Partnering Haway Geordie to five wins, including at Sedgefield, also brings back great memories. Another horse called Tot, who I won on, was another a big favourite of mine.

"Eventually, the rides dried up and I packed up in 1986, but carried on working for Denys in charge of his second yard at Shildon.

"When the horse numbers dwindled, he gave up that premises and I returned to his main base at Holdsforth Farm.

"When Denys retired, my wife's dad had a permit holder's licence and some stables, so I got myself organised to take over the place, was granted a full licence and have never looked back."

It's no surprise that David passed the Jockey Club vetting procedure with flying colours - after all, he'd served a long and loyal apprenticeship under Denys' wing, most famous for sending out the 1968 Grand National winner, Red Alligator.

But it wasn't only jumping stock with which Smith made his name, since he also trained a string of high-class Flat horses such as Karinga Bay, exposing Thompson to plenty of top thoroughbreds under both codes.

Such experience is invaluable and David has now built up his own business to fill a wellappointed 28-box yard, spectacularly sited with magnificent views of the surrounding countryside in the village of Bolam, just off the A68.

"We've attracted owners from all over - Scotland, Manchester, Grimbsy - as well as people from around here.

"For instance, One And Only belongs to five of the staff involved with the Barchester Nursing Home in Darlington - they brought a couple of the elderly ladies up to see the horse recently and they really enjoyed themselves.

"We had our first winner with Sovereign State over hurdles at Stratford in July of 2003. I bought him for only 1,200 guineas at Doncaster and in total he's won eight races, plus been placed over 20 times between the Flat and jumps.

Neither was Sovereign State the only shrewd family purchase, because Helen - David's wife - snapped up a mare called Ella Falls in the early days for only £650 simply to ride away.

She said: "Ella Falls was originally in training with David Nicholls and Julie Craze, running numerous times over seven furlongs on the Flat without doing a thing.

Conversely, for us, she won three point-to-points and was an absolute star. We then sold her for 26,000 guineas to Heather Dalton."

She added: "Beggars can't be choosers and David's just brilliant at finding horses at bargain prices and sweetening them up to win races, " Apart from looking after their children, Helen helps with paperwork for the business.

Not blessed with a bulging bank balance, team Thompson work like terriers to earn a crust.

"I drive the box, harrow the gallops, muck out, do the feeding and ride three lots a day - in fact, I'm never out of the yard, " said David.

"It's a very hard lifestyle, although worth it just to see the look on the faces of the owners when their horse wins."

He certainly hopes for some victories in the coming months - and offered some useful pointers.

BEST GAME
I claimed him out of Gerard Butler's yard and he's won two races for us already, including over seven furlongs at Carlisle last August, plus been placed three times over hurdles. He'll be back on the Flat this summer at distances of about one mile, or nine furlongs.

CHARLIE TANGO
He's not a bad little horse we claimed out of Nigel Tinkler's stable in 2005. He's won for us over hurdles at Sedgefield and, when the ground is right, should win again on the Flat this summer at about a mile or ten furlongs.

GABOR
He'd been hard-trained when he came to us, but we've freshened him up and he'll definitely win races this summer.

PERFECT BALANCE
He won a handicap hurdle at Southwell in January and will go back on the Flat this summer. He was placed several times over staying distances last year, including when third, beaten by a short head and a head, at Ayr on a very soft surface.

ROCKPILER
Cost 300,000 euros when bought from France to go in training with Howard Johnson for Graham Wylie. He only had one run for them and I picked him up for 2,60 guineas. To be perfectly honest, I checked him over and can't find anything wrong with him, so fingers crossed he should be okay at ten furlongs. He's been in work for two-and-a-half months now and is a very stuffy individual.

Rockpiler is out of an extremely smart six-time-winning mare and has a fabulous pedigree.

SAAMEQ
When I picked him up from his owner, he took over an hourand-a-half to get on the horse box because he was so unruly.

Eventually, we had to blindfold him to get him on. I've only had him back here three weeks, but he's a totally changed character and he seems fine now. He's won over 12 furlongs, which is about his right trip.

ZAHARA JOY
This filly was rated in the mid60s last year and finished third over seven furlongs at Catterick in June. Her form then tailed off, probably because she was still growing, so we turned her out well before the end of the season. She's by Cayman Kai and, being stronger, seems the type to win as a three-year-old.

SOVEREIGN STATE
He's a real spring and summer horse, the sort to need the sun on his back. Sovereign State will probably head for quite a valuable hurdles' race that he won once before at Fakenham, mixed with a Flat campaign in low-grade staying handicaps at the likes of Catterick and Redcar on fast ground.