FROM a memorable tussle with the late Pat Smullen, to more recent prolonged duels with Shane Foley and Billy Lee, it’s fair to say that Colin Keane has shown a champion’s mentality on several occasions in the past to lift the Irish flat jockeys’ championship.

With a new dynamic at play this year, however, in the shape of his prized first rider job with Juddmonte - and a hungry rival hunting for his crown in Dylan Browne McMonagle - the six-time champion jockey has a serious fight on his hands to retain his title this autumn.