From trainer of Mongolian racing ponies to a Grade One-winning handler of thoroughbreds within five years is extraordinary enough. But taking a Breeders' Cup race, from a stable of 12 horses?

On the horizon, a dot of colour appears: a solitary figure astride a horse, cloaked in a brightly patterned Mongolian robe, the steppe stretching out around him. The image is Mongolian lore ...