Colin Keane Takes Second Irish Champion Jockey Title

Colin Keane has earned his second Irish Champion Jockey title and a century of winners when he booted home Pretty Boy Floyd (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB]) to win a handicap at The Curragh on Monday. The season is officially over in Ireland at Naas next weekend, but Keane’s nearest rival, Shane Foley, is still seven winners behind. Foley was also in action on Monday, but both jockeys will not be present at Naas, because they are riding in the upcoming Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland on Nov. 6-7. The highlight of Keane’s season was a brace of Classics, the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas with Siskin (First Defence) and the G1 Irish Oaks aboard Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

“That’s a great way to finish up,” said Keane, who previously won the Flat championship in 2017. “It was nice to get the 100 up on my last ride. I’m delighted–to win the title once is what you dream of growing up, so to get a second one, when it didn’t look likely for such a long time, is great.

“Shane Foley is a good friend of mine and would have been a very deserving winner of it. September was probably the real game-changer, because I rode 26 winners that month. That really helped.”

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Classic Winners Kameko, Siskin Clash In Wednesday’s ‘Win And You’re In’ Sussex Stakes

Classic winning 3-year-olds, Kameko and Siskin, are set to clash in the Qatar Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood on Wednesday. The winner will earn an automatic berth into the US$2 million TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) through the international Breeders' Cup Challenge.

QIPCO 2000 Guineas (G1) winner, Kameko, and Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas (G1) winner, Siskin, will take on the older generation on Wednesday in the British Group 1 mile showpiece.

Prince Khalid Abdullah's unbeaten homebred colt Siskin travels from Ireland for this hot contest. The son of First Defense (USA), trained by Ger Lyons, has not been seen on a racecourse since scoring in impressive fashion at the Curragh.

Lyons said: “On form figures we have to improve. I think he has but we won't know until the day. The horse has done everything I've asked him and has been working well at home. Physically he is improving — you can see him getting stronger. It is going to be a tough contest.”

Regular jockey Colin Keane will take the ride despite facing 14 days' quarantine on his return to Ireland, with Lyons adding: “These are the races that you want to win. He has to self-isolate when he comes home. These are strange times though, and we are lucky to be racing.”

Owned by Qatar Racing and trained by Andrew Balding, Kameko steps back down in trip after finishing a credible fourth in the Investec Derby (G1) last time out. The dual Group 1 winner set a course record over a mile in the 2000 Guineas (G1), beating Ballydoyle's Wichita (IRE) by a neck.

Wichita is one of three runners for trainer Aidan O'Brien, alongside Queen Anne (G1) winner Circus Maximus (IRE) and Irish Guineas runner-up Vatican City (IRE). The former's Royal Ascot victory guarantees his place in the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile through the international Breeders' Cup Challenge.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 6-7.

Others lining up at Goodwood for the Qatar Sussex Stakes and looking to earn their place at this year's Breeders' Cup include Mohaather (GB) and San Donato (IRE), the first two home in the Group 2 Betfred Summer Mile at Ascot this month.

Mohaather was an emphatic winner that day, having previously endured a luckless run behind Circus Maximus in the Queen Anne Stakes. His trainer Marcus Tregoning is hoping for his first Group 1 success since landing the Derby with Sir Percy in 2006.

Marcus Tregoning said, “It's a tough order but I don't think we could have Mohaather any better and he deserves a crack at it. He took his race in the Summer Mile very well and was back cantering the next day.

“I don't see why he won't handle the track because he's a neat horse who travels well and has plenty of speed. Hopefully he's going to run a big race.”

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winner of the Qatar Sussex Stakes to start in the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile, which will be run over 1 mile at the Keeneland turf course. Breeders' Cup also will provide a travel allowance of US$40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must already be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program or it must be nominated by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of Oct. 26 to receive the rewards.

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‘Worth Sacrificing’: Ireland-Based Jockey Colin Keane Faces Quarantine By Partnering Siskin At Goodwood

Ireland-based jockey Colin Keane will face 14 days of quarantine after reuniting with Siskin at Glorious Goodwood – but the red-hot rider says that's a sacrifice he was willing to make in a heartbeat.

Dual Classic winner Keane piloted Ger Lyons' cracking colt to a brilliant victory in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas last month, toppling Vatican City at the Curragh to extend Siskin's flawless record to five wins from five.

Lyons confirmed that Goodwood's Qatar Sussex Stakes will be next for the 3-year-old, as the trainer targets another Group One glory following Even So's triumph in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks this weekend.

The coronavirus restrictions mean Keane will face two weeks of quarantine upon returning to Ireland after Goodwood, however, severely jeopardizing his chances of usurping Shane Foley's lead at the summit of the Leading Jockeys table.

Keane has partnered Siskin in all five of his trips so far and while this time may all but end his chances of regaining his Champion Jockey crown of 2017, he says he simply couldn't pass the opportunity to team up with the speedster once more.

“It's definitely worth sacrificing the two weeks,” Keane told Nick Luck's Daily Podcast. “There are not too many like Siskin that I've got to sit on before, so when a horse like that comes around you want to be on him everyday – especially on the big days.

“Hopefully there'll be other championships in the future, but there might not be another Siskin for a very long time, so I want to take every opportunity.

“He's been great since the Guineas, he looks a million dollars and we couldn't be happier with him. We'll keep him wrapped up and it's about getting him there in one piece.”

The Keane-Lyons axis banged in their second Classic winner of the season on Saturday as Even So followed in Siskin's glittering footsteps in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks.

The fabulous filly reeled in Jessica Harrington's Cayenne Pepper – with Foley on board – as Keane delivered a red-hot performance of his own to make things spicy in the Leading Jockeys table.

The 25-year-old has now ridden 28 winners this season, one behind Wayne Lordan but still 11 triumphs adrift of Foley's table-topping 39 efforts.

Foley and Harrington remain without a Classic victory this campaign, however, with Aidan O'Brien landing the other two races with wins for Peaceful and Santiago in the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas and Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.

Keane, the 2014 Champion Apprentice, is a man for the big occasion and while both his Classic triumphs have come behind closed doors, it's done little to diminish his joy.

“It was a brilliant weekend – it's still surreal, and one we'll remember for a while I think,” he added.

“Anytime I've ridden a Group One winner there's been nobody there, so it's strange but we're not going to complain.

“There was a lot of pressure for Siskin, but not so much on the filly, so we were just hoping for black type. To go and do what she did was surreal, she was very good.”

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Keane To Stick With Siskin

Jockey Colin Keane confirmed on Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast that he will cop the 14-day quarantine and continue his association with Siskin (First Defence) in the July 29 G1 Sussex S. Keane has ridden Siskin in all five of his starts, including a last-out win in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas on June 12, and a trip to Goodwood for the rider means that he will have to quarantine for two weeks upon returning to Ireland.

“There are not too many like Siskin that I’ve got to sit on before, so when a horse like that comes around you want to be on him everyday–especially on the big days,” said Keane, who also rode Siskin’s Ger Lyons-trained stablemate Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) to victory in Saturday’s G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks. “It’s definitely worth sacrificing the two weeks. Hopefully there’ll be other championships in the future, but there might not be another Siskin for a very long time, so I want to take every opportunity.

“He’s been great since the Guineas, he looks a million dollars and we couldn’t be happier with him. We’ll keep him wrapped up and it’s about getting him there in one piece.”

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