Jason Watson has cut bread and milk from his diet to get in shape for racing’s restart.

He hopes it helps him cap the first week back in style at Newmarket tomorrow.

The 20-year-old from Brighton is on board favourite Quadrilateral in the Qipco 1000 Guineas having eased back into the old routine at Kempton, Lingfield and Newmarket this week.

Watson, right, has shed 10lb since returning from a trip to Australia in our winter.

He said: “I came back in February about 9st 6lb so that was hard.

“I thought give me a couple of weeks back racing and the weight would come down but then obviously the racing was called off.

“Getting back down has been a bit of a task but we are back to full fitness now.

“Four months out is hard for me and I’m not the only one in that boat.

“I’ve cut out certain things in my diet such as bread and milk and tried to substitute them with more lean protein.

“Little changes like that make a big difference. I’m probably 8st 10 at the moment.”

Watson believes the Aussie trip was a beneficial one.

He added: “It was used half as a holiday for me out there.

“But I also picked up a few rides and a few winners.

“It’s massively different there. The way they ride the races is completely different.

“The pace of the races is different, the tracks are very sharp.

“It’s a good learning curve. It sharpened me up, certainly.

“It was just nice to get a feel for how another country does it.”

Watson admits the last three months have been a challenge but he is happy with how he has handled it and how the sport has prepared to be in the spotlight as it returns.

He said: “It has been tough but, once you find a routine and get what structure, you’re fine.

“Race-riding itself is great for your fitness.

“What better way to keep fit than by doing the sport that is your profession?

“I’ve been riding out, exercising horses in the morning six days a week.

“I go training after that for an hour-and-a-half, sometimes two hours, just to try and keep weight off.

“The new set-up at tracks is crucial to making it work.

“There have been plenty of discussions between the BHA, doctors and the racecourse management.

“We have had a lot to do with how things are laid out, which is great.

“You have to work as a unit because it is important we get this right.

“They have done a great job laying it out.

“All the lads in the weighing room would say the same in that we are happy we are safe and perfectly happy with the way things are.”

Quadrilateral closed 2019 with three successive wins under Watson, the last of them at Newmarket at the same 9/4 price at which they were being widely quoted this week.

This time, though, there will be a difference with the sport now taking place behind closed doors.

Watson said: “It has been a long time waiting but we are happy with where Quadrilateral is. She is looking well, she seems very healthy and happy.

“We are excited about it and we have just got to go out there and do our job.

“It’s obviously nice to have crowds there and it creates that atmosphere. But at the end of the day once we are out there on that track it all goes into the back of our heads anyway.”

“We are focusing on the job in hand and the horse we have underneath us.

“We will all just be in the zone when we are on the track.”