Graham Cunningham on Colin Keane's third International Jockeys’ Championship

By Graham Cunningham

Horse Racing

Mon December 02, 2024 · 3h ago

An elated Irish trainer switched the spotlight straight to his stable jockey after Magnum Force swooped to conquer in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar recently.

Saddling his first BC winner after a productive season at home and abroad, the normally expansive Ger Lyons described himself as “speechless” before finding his voice to describe Colin Keane as “probably the most underrated champion jockey in the world.”

It's strange to think a rider who has won six Irish championships and several of the world’s best turf races – including an Irish Derby on Westover and Breeders’ Cup Turf on Tarnawa - could fly under the radar.

But two experts who have watched his progress closely for over a decade insist that, if Keane is widely under rated, it is purely because he remains admirably under stated.

Fran Berry, a G1 winning rider who tasted big race success in Europe and Japan before moving into roles with Sporting Life and says Keane “has an easy going exterior that can be deceptive.”

And the Racing Post’s Deputy Ireland Editor David Jennings adds that “you would never know Colin was a star if you met him in a coffee shop - and he certainly wouldn’t mention it.”

But actions speak louder than words and Keane returns to Hong Kong for a third LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship on December 4th with G1 scores in five major racing nations and a ringing endorsement from former rival Berry.

“Colin won’t push himself into the limelight but you don’t become a champion jockey in Ireland six times without having a very steely temperament,” he adds.

“He has this natural instinct for the feel of a race – sensing where he needs to be in three strides – and I’m sure that’s been a huge help in his visits to Happy Valley and the Breeders’ Cup.”

That instinct was evident as Keane delivered Special Stars with a withering run from stall 12 to land leg one of the 2018 IJC for John Size and it was a similar story in 2019 as the Irishman conjured a dramatic last-to-first surge on David Hall’s Flying Quest.

Berry detects “shades of Kieren Fallon” in the way Keane allows his partners to build momentum and feels the way he gets horses to lunge on the line makes him tough to beat in tight finishes.

“But the thing that sets Colin apart is his mentality,” he adds. “He doesn’t get fazed by any situation. Believe me, that is a huge asset and, when an opportunity arrives, whether at home or on the international stage, you can be sure he’ll make the difference.”

Jennings smiles as he recalls Keane handling the media conference after Magnum Force’s Del Mar success “as if he had just won a pony race on the beach” before recalling his first major television interview as a teenage apprentice in 2013.

“Colin had just won a big handicap at the Galway Festival on a horse called Brendan Bracken and he told a national audience that it meant a lot because he had crashed his car and needed money to repair it!

“He’s still the same person all these years on. It’s an odd word to use but he’s authentic– a genuine family guy - and that goes a long way in making him incredibly popular right across the board.”

Crystal Black and Colin Keane at Royal Ascot

Those family ties were perfectly illustrated at Royal Ascot in June when Crystal Black dominated the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.

Keane was elated to score on the big stage aboard a bargain buy trained by his 68-year-old father Gerry in the County Meath village of Trim and Berry and Jennings both feel personal contentment is every bit as important as career progress to him.

Berry says: “Ger Lyons has complete faith in his man - and his daughter Kerri is Colin’s partner – so it makes for a really positive bubble that seems to work perfectly.”

Meanwhile, Jennings ponders a possible future beyond that bubble by saying “there are certain riding roles that are like a star footballer getting a call from the chairman of Real Madrid.”

He adds: “A call like that will probably come for Colin at some point and some jobs are almost impossible to refuse.

“Time will tell but Colin has a quiet, instinctive way around people and horses that’s very rare. He’s already achieved a huge amount but he’s still only 30 and I have no doubt he will be a leading trainer in years to come.”

Nearer to hand, Ireland’s leading rider returns to Hong Kong for the first time in five years to face five previous IJC champions and six other world-class rivals.

Those who know him well won’t be surprised to see him handle the challenge in a way that is under stated.

But memories of previous hit and run visits to Hong Kong will ensure Colin Keane is far from underrated when he bids to shine again in the world’s most prestigious jockey challenge.

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