JOHN FERGUSON, one of Sheikh Mohammed’s senior advisors, started the week helping to mastermind the signing of Godolphin’s new two-pronged jockey package, William Buick and James Doyle.

In his other role as a successful jumps trainer in his own right, he ended the week saddling Parlour Games to win the slowly-run Neptune Investment Novices’ Hurdle.

Paddy Power gave the six-year-old a 25-1 quote to win the race of the same name at the Festival after he raced almost five lengths clear of his toiling rivals as soon as Barry Geraghty loosed him from the last.

Asked to explain how he could tell which of the classy ex-Flat racers he inherits would do a job over jumps, Ferguson said ‘zest for life’.

“Size is not an issue,” he continued. “I’ve got a runner here on Sunday, Commissioned, who is the size of a Jack Russell.

“A lot of ex-Flat horses come to me very tired and after their holidays some of them brighten up. They have got to want to do it (jumping).”

As for Godolphin’s need to have two jockeys in 2015 Ferguson said: “The Sheikh liked the idea of having two world class jockeys.

“We have two similar-sized stables and it made sense to have one jockey riding as No.1 for each.”