And the naughty boy did not spend his sabbatical in the corner. Tabor’s off-course business flourished and, from a starting point of two shops, he was up to 114 Arthur Prince outlets by 1995 Then he had none He sold the lot to Coral for over £27m. It was the stack of chips he needed to start playing at the top table.Tabor now has an interest in about 80 horses worldwide, most of which run either in his royal blue and orange colours, with a great fluorescent disc on the chest, or in the blue livery of Susan Magnier, the daughter of the legendary Irish trainer, Vincent O’Brien She is a nominal owner in the partnerships. Tabor is effectively in business with her husband, John Magnier, the owner of the sprawling Coolmore Stud in Co Tipperary.

There are elements in Irish racing which like to portray themselves with fuzzy paintings of men with pints of Guinness in little bars Coolmore is not quite as folksy. It’s a ruthless breeding machine, probably the most bolted down and professional example of a stud in the world.They are tidy with their words at Coolmore. They don’t leave any unnecessary ones lying around in conversation That fits with Tabor’s natural reticence. It is an omerta which stretches from the gang’s trainer, the bespectacled Aidan O’Brien, right up to Magnier himself. In conversation with a journalist recently, even the big man ended the brief chat with the Coolmore line “but don’t quote me on that”.

As if he had anyone to answer to.Michael Tabor is not easy to pin down, here or in his tax-exile base in Monaco. He is either taking more important calls, rushing to a box at the races, getting on aeroplanes or accessing his suite at the Dorchester He lost my business card. He must have wanted to, because he usually keeps what he wants. The trim 58-year-old speaks softly and considerately, like an undertaker The accent is not posh, still very much E7. And, like most successful figures, Tabor believes he has not changed from the Forest Gate days (even though he has not been back since Bobby Moore was around).”I don’t look at having any status,” he says “Nothing’s changed as far as I’m concerned I’m just going up to town to my mother’s now for a sandwich Probably a cheese one It all just happened for me. I couldn’t get into the detail of how it happened in one conversation [well, this conversation at least]. But it didn’t all just come overnight.”The business as far as Tabor is now concerned is to buy expensive yearlings and turn them into even more expensive stallions It’s not a new system It’s not even a new system to Coolmore Robert Sangster originated the idea.