No one is more proud of champion jockey Paul Hanagan than his young family. MAXINE GORDON meets them at their Malton home.

WE ARE not long over the doorstep when little Josh Hanagan runs to the silver trophy on the wooden dresser. Josh, four, almost topples over as he hauls the giant goblet towards us. He is beaming as the pride in his daddy overflows.

Mum Anna wrestles the trophy from him in order to pose for our photographer. Josh settles for a cuddle with his “snuggly” white blanket, while baby Sam, 11 months, carries on playing with a toy train track, oblivious to all the fuss.

It has been an incredible few months for the family, climaxing in Paul Hanagan clinching the Flat jockeys’ championship in Doncaster ten days ago.

Paul, 30, is from Warrington but has been with North Yorkshire-based trainer Richard Fahey since he was 17. This year has been like no other, with Paul racking up 191 winners – more than all his rivals – to win the much-coveted champion jockey crown. It’s quite an achievement, as Paul is only the third northern jockey to take the title in more than a century; but it has been hard work, for Paul himself and for Anna.

While Paul travelled up and down the country chasing wins, often living out of a suitcase for a week at a time, Anna was at home, juggling her own job and looking after the two young boys.

“It’s been hard,” says Anna, 27. “As anyone in racing knows, you have to put your life on hold; it takes over everything. Paul has been away down south a lot, but it’s all worth it in the end.”

Luckily, Anna understands the all-consuming world of racing. She met Paul ten years ago when she came to do work experience at Richard Fahey’s yard. Paul was just starting out as a jockey, but looking back she could see he was quietly determined. “He was really ambitious, but he was really quiet and it took him a while to come out of his shell.”

Anna moved from Hale, a village near Merseyside, to Malton so they could be together; they married in 2005, with Anna’s horse sharing the limelight.

Although Anna rides, she is too busy with the boys and her job in the office at Fahey’s Musley Bank base to indulge her hobby, and her pony and her horse are on loan to friends for now.

As for the boys catching the horsey habit, she is keeping an open mind. “Josh doesn’t like ponies,” she says. “But he loves horses. We put him on a horse and he immediately took up the jockey position, just like his dad.”

To celebrate his victory, Paul and Richard have spent the past six days in Las Vegas. Anna doesn’t begrudge him the holiday. “He deserves it,” she says, the warmth in her soft Scouse accent coming through. “The last thing I would want is for him to say he couldn’t do something because ‘Anna wouldn’t let me’.”

Arguably, that understanding has oiled the wheels of Paul’s success this year. In chasing his dream, he travelled some 60,000 miles over the season, completing 1,109 rides.

His schedule was gruelling. He would rise at 6am, read the Racing Post and then head over to the yard to ride out, before going off racing. Anna reveals how Paul would rarely switch off, even at home.

“He’d come back then watch what he’d done that day on TV, going over and over it. He would be so hard on himself. I would say to him: ‘Paul, tomorrow is a new day’.”

While Paul was away, Anna followed her own routine, dropping the boys at nursery or the childminder while she worked from 7.30am to 1pm at the yard. Friday is her day off, when she and the boys meet up with friends and have day trips. “We like going to the play area, or Castle Howard or Dalby Forest,” she says.

Luckily, her sister, Claire Sutton, lives nearby, offering her some family support. Paul, it seems had a hand it that. “Paul is a bit of a cupid, and Claire now goes out with a farrier who works for Richard,” says Anna.

Of course, there is a flip side to all the hard work – days out at Ascot, awards ceremonies, opportunities to dress up to the nines. Tonight, Anna is joining Paul, newly back from Vegas, at the glitzy Cartier Awards in London. Local designer Charlotte Barker has made her a dress for the occasion. The boys will be staying in Malton, looked after by her sister.

“There is a glamorous side to it,” says Anna. “But more than anything, I’ll be looking forward to having a good nights’ sleep.”

The season has brought financial rewards, too. Paul’s mounts brought in £1.7 million, most of which will go to the racehorse owner, with Paul getting a percentage cut. Still, it affords the Hanagans a nice lifestyle.

“We are not extravagant, but Paul likes his luxuries and his nice gear,” says Anna. “We can afford nice cars, a nice house and nice holidays. We appreciate it, but don’t take it for granted.”

Paul will now have the winter off, during which he will not be earning. He will be at home, catching up with day-to-day life, and taking Anna and the boys on their family holiday – two weeks in Mauritius.

And the tables will be turned. “I will still be working,” says Anna, a twinkle in her eye. “So he will have to fit in with our routine.”