WE saw from the reactions to the Katie Taylor fight last week how winning the big contests on your home soil can bring a huge amount of satisfaction.

The races that you watched as a young budding athlete, can mean just as much as the big prizes overseas to a jockey.

Spin back 15 months to when Colin Keane took over as the contracted rider for Juddmonte in Europe, it must be more than he could have then imagined to be heading into Ireland’s biggest flat racing weekend with a favourite and a very well-fancied second favourite in the two big Group 1 races at Leopardstown today.

Coming off two Group 1 wins, Blue Bolt stands out in the Matron and Item attempts to confirm his win in what was probably the highest-class race of the season so far in the Juddmonte International.

Keane has every right to feel the year has gone amazingly well. Group 1 wins in the Falmouth Stakes, Prix Rothschild, King George, Juddmonte International, Yorkshire Oaks are a fine record.

It can be amusing to remember if you were searching online about 54 weeks ago, just after Blue Bolt was beaten in the Atalanta Stakes, you would find a litany of negative comments… “how has he got beat”, “worst jockey I’ve laid eyes on”, “stinker”, “shite”, “horrific” were some of the comments I saved at the time!

Opinion

Racing TV’s analyst Steve Mellish got some stick recently when he gave his opinion after York that Keane had not ridden Kalpana perfectly on any occasion this year. The mare won on her first outing in a Group 3 at Newbury, beating West Wind Blows by a neck. She was then beaten a short head by Giavellotto in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, before her big triumph in the King George over Calandagan and then battled on to win a Yorkshire Oaks, where a pacemaker messed up a lot of pre-race plans.

Keane has taken all in his stride over the last 12 months. But no one should be jumping to the defence just because it’s a British commentator making comment on “one of our own”.

It was clear that Kalpana did travel too well and hit the front too soon at Newbury, to be challenged again by an inferior horse close to the line. At Royal Ascot, she again travelled easily, hit the front at the two-furlong mark, but she was run out of it in the final strides. It’s perfectly plausible to suggest she was in front too soon.

She went for broke just a little later in the King George and, as recounted by Agnus McNae in his review column in this paper at the time, (“his 11.83 secs through that 10th furlong in contrast to Kalpana, who clocked 12.13 secs”), Calandagan had to use his speed earlier, being further back. It was he who had to move too soon on that occasion and the mare held him off.

No real blame could be apportioned to the ride at York, Keane simply had to make a move towards the one in front and also be aware of something else moving first from those chasing. It was not the best ride, but circumstances counted against the rider when having to make a decision in the heat of the race.

Good ride

But in any case, it’s never correct to assume that every winning ride is a good ride.

Indeed, there is plenty of evidence to say that one of the most iconic rides and wins of the last few decades, was not a particularily well-judged one.

That being Tom Queally going all the way in the 2011 2000 Guineas. Spectacular to watch, but the free galloping and mid-race move - “Frankel is 15 lengths clear” - didn’t produce a great time because he tired notably in the closing stages. Held up for longer, he could have been 15 lengths clear at the end, rather than six lengths and using so much energy in the first half of the race.

The same tactics next time, a premature mid-race move in the St James’s Palace, saw the colt noticeably tire and just hold off Zoffany by a half length. By the end of the season on British Champions Day, and later as a four-year-old, Frankel was ridden with more restraint, to save his best efforts for the later stages of the races.

Tactics, pace and position are going to be vital in those big two races at Leopardstown today, with Keane in the hot seat against the Aidan O’Brien runners. Blue Bolt looks a faster horse this year, but her two big wins were on straight tracks and she must be in position off the bend to move against the two Ballydoyle fillies. Remember Chris Hayes on Tahiyra a few years back.

Similarly, in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champions Stakes, you would think Lambourn is a ‘sensible’ pacemaker, Constitution River coped with swift early sectionals in the Eclipse and has a good turn of foot, as he stayed on well there and at Chantilly. Item, in both his Group 2 and Juddmonte International win, just took a few strides to get going. Keane will not want Moore getting first run.

Any rider comments obviously must have a caveat that missing today is Dylan Browne-McMongale who went from having five wins on a Curragh card to a hospital bed two days later. But it doesn’t mean we can’t discuss the performances.

All in all, with the first three from York, and questions as to how the form will hold up, it’s shaping to be fascinating test of horse and rider ability.

OPINIONS will no doubt differ on the first running of the Golden Fleece Stakes as a nine-furlong juvenile Group 1 on the Leopardstown card. A field of 10 and two British challengers will no doubt satisfy many.

Especially as Green Impact beat only three rivals in the original race two years ago and Benvenuto Cellini also beat three others, all from and O’Brien yard, last year.

The 10 runners today consist of seven from Aidan or Joseph O’Brien, only one other Irish trainer, Fozzy Stack represented.

No runners from the next six ‘non’ O’Brien trainers in the current Irish most prize money won lists, Lyons, Murtagh, Twomey, Harrington, De Aguiar, Slattery, nor any from Weld or O’Callaghan yards represented.

In the end of season World Rankings last year, of the top 40 juveniles, only one Irish trainer was represented out side the O’Brien stables – Power Blue from Adrian Murray.

Yes, two overseas runners make it look better and we have to see how it gets established but Benvenuto Cellini’s first prize last season was €90,000 when the race had a €150,000 prize fund and he won a four-runner O’Brien x 3 contest. First prize this year is €240,000 of the of €400,000. It’s that money is available, could it be put to better use?