The Stewards’ Cup on Saturday has brought to light the unlikely story of how one of the brightest young talents in Flat racing was discovered and nurtured by a battered old jump jockey better known for the injuries he sustained than the winners he rode.

Jason Watson, the 18-year-old credited with a “phenomenal” ride to land the Goodwood cavalry charge on Gifted Master, was first lifted into a saddle a dozen years ago at Hamsey Riding School in Lewes, where the long-retired Ray Goldstein saw immediate promise in the youngster. Within an hour of getting on a pony at Goldstein’s place, Watson had his first experience of cantering and then jumping.

“That’s how I do it, if the kiddie looks safe,” Goldstein said with a laugh on Sunday. “I’ve got a photo of him in our tack room, on a little pony called Katie, going over a jump in our indoor school when he was only six.” The jump was big enough to make Goldstein doubt the wisdom of his actions, in hindsight. “Christ, why I made him do that, I don’t know.”

Watson confirms that Goldstein was happy to let him go straight in at the deep end. “He’s very much ‘get up and go and get on with it’ and I think that’s played a main part in my confidence and turning me into a horseman,” reflected the jockey, who was taken to the riding school on a whim by his father, a postman in Brighton. There was no family connection to racing.

Goldstein remembers what could have been a nasty incident when Watson’s pony and another turned their backsides to each other and engaged in a furious kicking match. “Them old mares were going at each other like stink and he just sat there in the saddle as if nothing was happening. You can’t teach good hands. You’re blessed with those.”

Known as one of the toughest of many tough men in the jumps weighing room of the late 80s, Goldstein, now 66, had career highs including a treble at Windsor. But he was not lucky enough to be offered quality mounts on a regular basis and racked up a long list of broken bones thanks to his willingness to have a go on horses of limited ability.

For a long time Watson assumed he would follow his mentor into the winter game. “But I ended up not really growing too much and my weight remained good. I was told: ‘Try yourself out on the Flat and see how you get on.’”

Now he is the latest young star to emerge from Andrew Balding’s jockey academy at Kingsclere and has an excellent chance of becoming champion apprentice this year. He hopes to follow the example of Oisin Murphy, who also tore through his apprentice claim while based with Balding and also shot to prominence by winning a sprint handicap; in his case, it was the Ayr Gold Cup.

Goldstein is certain that, whatever happens for the rest of this season, Watson has a good career ahead of him. “He’s a nice lad, neat and tidy, dedicated, so he will get on. You could have another kid, he gets a bit big-headed, could be an even better rider but suddenly it’ll all end. He’s the real package.”

Apparently there is another similar talent working his way towards the weighing room from Hamsey. “There’s a lad coming through, he’s only 13 but he’s riding all our thoroughbreds now,” Goldstein reports.

“We’ve got a couple of three-mile chasers and some sprinters, he can ride anything. He’s tiny but he’s a good lad, got good hands. Jason’s his idol. He wants to be another Jason Watson.”