FOR the first time in a long time, I had reason to talk to Graham McKeever this week, following the success of his Dara McGill-partnered Kirikou D’Ex in the older horses’ maiden at Kirkistown last Saturday.

Graham jointly-owns the six-year-old Spanish Moon gelding with Warren Ewing, the pair having given €32,000 for the bay at the 2023 Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale. He is trained for them by Gerald Quinn with whom McKeever has been working for the past two years.