LAST Sunday champion jockey Colin Keane set a new record for winners in a flat season in Ireland. The record had been held by Joseph O’Brien, who rode 126 winners in 2013. Appropriately, Keane surpassed that total on a horse trained by Ger Lyons, who he has worked alongside for practically all of his career to-date.
After reaching the magical 127-winner mark aboard Power Under Me in a listed race at Naas, Keane said: “We’ve been getting close to it slowly but surely – I’ve had plenty of seconds in the last two weeks. It was great to level it for the boss and then to go and beat it for the boss is even better.
“It hasn’t sunk in and probably won’t until we start on zero next year and we’re looking back on it. We try to beat every year’s tally, we mightn’t have a year like this again for a while so we’ll appreciate it while it’s here.”
Keane was champion for the first time in 2017 and regained the title last year. Among his notable successes of 2021 are Group 1 wins on Helvic Dream in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and, further afield, Broome in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
In 2020, he enjoyed his first classic victories on Siskin in the Irish 2000 Guineas and Even So in the Irish Oaks – as well as the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Tarnawa.
Paying his tribute to Keane, Lyons said: “Colin is a credit to himself, his family and the whole racing industry. He’s a fine example of what a champion jockey should be. He keeps himself to himself and lets his riding do the talking.
“You see Billy Lee going over to shake his hand after the race and that tells you all you need to know about the huge respect he has in the weighing room. He’s just a genuinely good guy. The industry is full of people trying to make heroes out of X, Y and Z but Colin has done it his way, the old-fashioned way – his riding doing all the talking.
“Every winner he rides from now until the end of the season is going to be a record and, you know what, next season he will want to better whatever total he finishes with this season so he is going to keep us on our toes!”
Stable jockey
Keane has been stable jockey to Ger Lyons since the summer of 2014. He finished runner-up to the late Pat Smullen in the jockeys’ championship the following year but secured his first title in 2017, winning it again in 2020 and retaining his crown this season.
He rode his first group race winner when successful on Brendan Brackan in the Group 3 Solonaway Stakes at the Curragh in 2013.
His association with Lyons has yielded a number of significant wins. Early among them was the Group 2 Railway Stakes with Medicine Jack at the Curragh in 2016 and a bigger success came their way when Ardhoomey captured the Group 2 Flying Five Stakes at the same venue on Longines Irish Champions Weekend the following September.
Keane’s first Group 1 winner came aboard the Tony Martin-trained Laganore in the Premio Lydia Tesio in Rome in late 2017.
Champion rider
Just two weeks later, Keane was crowned champion jockey for the first time when he got the better of an epic duel with Pat Smullen to land the title.
Keane and Lyons shared their first Group 1 success together when Siskin won the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh in August 2019. Shortly afterwards they combined to win the first running of the £1 million Ebor Handicap at York with Mustajeer.
He rode 103 winners in Ireland in the 2019 season and finished second in the championship, eight winners behind Donnacha O’Brien.
Siskin gave Keane and Lyons a first classic victory when taking the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh in June 2020.
A little over four weeks later, Even So gave the pair a second classic success when taking the Irish Oaks at the Curragh. Another Group 1 success came on the Johnny Murtagh-trained Champers Elysees in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown in September of the same year.
At one stage during that season, Shane Foley led Keane by 22 winners in the title race but Keane rode a remarkable 26 winners (compared to 11 for Foley) in September, and an October haul of 27 (compared to Foley’s 19) saw him enjoy a healthy advantage heading into the final days of the campaign.
With a second title in the bag, Keane rounded off a superb 2020 when coming in for the spare ride on Tarnawa in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland in November.
This success led to Dermot Weld striking a deal to avail of Keane’s services whenever he was not required by Lyons. Aidan O’Brien has also come knocking and provided Keane with a Group 1 winner this year aboard Broome in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Thanks to Martin Murphy and Shane Redmond of Horse Racing Ireland for information reproduced here.
Thanks to Shane Redmond & Martin Murphy of Horse Racing Ireland for information reproduced here