‘Who is this old fool who has come to ride?’: 70-year-old Mark Todd goes under the radar in ‘retirement’

Mark Todd leading a string up the gallops on a snowy day.

When H&H paid a visit to Ben Pauling’s National Hunt yard near Cheltenham, one work rider caught the eye. If anyone wondered what Sir Mark Todd is doing now, the secret’s out. There is no disguising the tall frame poised in perfect balance in the saddle, and the quiet hands that made him a two-time Olympic champion, five-time Burghley and four-time Badminton winner.

Since retiring from eventing in 2019 and subsequently also retiring from training racehorses...