THE Canary Islands provided a most welcome denouement to the hectic final leg of Wayne Lordan’s best season as a jockey. The Spanish archipelago, just a few miles off the Moroccan coast, concluded with a whistle-stop tour of the world from Santa Anita to Flemington to Sha Tin, with a spot of Dundalk in between.

When he finally got to put the feet up, along with wife Carey-Ann and children Ella (aged two) and Jack (14 months), it was with a sense of satisfaction at being able to reflect on a job done well, and receiving further affirmation that his decision to eschew quantity for quality in 2017 had paid off.