Whether he likes it or not, Philip Hide is now considered one of the senior jump jockeys in this country.

Like good wine, he has improved with age and is by no means done with yet.

Hide will be 33 this summer and, with 29 winners, is heading towards his best season.

Eleven more are needed to reach a personal best and the way things are going, he should achieve that goal He said: "Injuries are the drawback.

The last three seasons have not run very smoothly and two years ago I lost more than half the season with a broken elbow and an injured ankle."

A jockey needs to be on horses capable of winning and this season, thanks largely to Brighton trainer Gary Moore, at Brighton, and Peter Winkfield, at Godalming, the winners have kept coming.

Hide said: "The period after Christmas is often a bit flat but Mr Winkfield's horses gave me a great start in the new year."

Winkfield's assistant is Anton Pearson, the long-time assistant to Josh Gifford at Findon where Hide's career started.

Hide said: "Of course it helps that Anton and I have known each other for a long time and what he tells me about a horse before a race is always very useful".

Gifford got the 17-year-old Hide going in the first place.

He trusted the young jockey with horses like Bradbury Star and Deep Sensation, who both won major races such as the defunct Mackeson Gold Cup and a Sun Alliance Novices Chase. Brief Gale and Mr Percy were both out of the top drawer and kept Hide in the public eye.

Although he lives in Findon, Hide rides more often now for outside trainers like Moore and Winkworth but remains on good terms with the Giffords.

"I haven't had horses to ride of the quality of those early ones in recent years but it's all relative and a good trainer will find a race for any horse and that's where I'm lucky with the people I ride for.

"In any case, the quality of Gary's horses is rising steadily, which is sure to bring dividends."

Hide will always be associated with the now retired Brave Highlander, who ran in four Grand Nationals.

"I never had a bad ride on him and when he finished fourth to Papillon, we were bang there over the last two fences and only just beaten for speed on the long run-in. That was the thrill of a lifetime, there's always a great buzz at Aintree."

Brave Highlander was trained by Josh Gifford. He is owned by Nick and Valda Embericos, who have several horses in training, now with Josh's son Nick at Findon.

Hide was bred for the job. His dad Tony was a successful trainer at Newmarket after a modest career as a flat race jockey and Uncle Edward was one of the best jockeys in Britain with classic successes to his credit.

Wisely, Hide's parents insisted he completed his education before starting on a life with horses and anyone who has heard him previewing the Fontwell Park programme before racing begins will know that he is articulate and intelligent.

That's the reason racecourse manager Philip Bell chooses Hide over some of the higher profile riders and it helps that Hide nominates Fontwell Park as one of his favourite courses.

"I've had plenty of luck at Fontwell and apart from that it's close to home.

"If there's one thing that kills this job, it's the travelling!"

Relatively late in life Hide took up skiing.

"I've been out to France for the last two Christmases. Skiing is thrilling once you are good enough to go downhill, you are very close to the ground and a sensation of speed isn't unlike race riding.

Added to that you're not surrounded by a host of animals that could go in any direction!

"It's beginning to become naturally to me now and I intend to go on skiing long after I've stopped riding."

That, you may be sure, will not be in the foreseeable future. "I am enjoying race riding now as much as I ever did and I am certainly not planning imminent retirement," he says.

When the time does come, Hide is not certain to take the obvious route into training.

He said: "I have seen the down side of training horses and there are so many factors to weigh up, apart from the horses.

Endless bureaucracy, staff, owners and so on - I certainly wouldn't entertain just scratching a living as a trainer and it's easier said than done to kick off with 30 or 40 decent horses in a top training centre."

My own guess is that when Hide does hang up his boots he will be snapped up by the Jockey Club as an official.

Commendably, in recent years, ex-jockeys have become stewards secretaries, starters or course inspectors, bringing years of experience at the coalface to jobs that were often filled by retired military men.

In the meantime, it is six days a week on horseback and one on the golf course for Hide.

He is trying to lower his already useful handicap of ten, and as that goes down, the tally of winners goes up.