Benoit de la Sayette: the rise of a prodigal talent 'born to be a top jockey'

Four summers ago at the tail end of a cross-country race in the heart of France, the style shown in a finish aboard his pony Dough Boy was there for all to see.

Benoit de la Sayette has been talked of as a major talent since the days when he and Augustin Madamet – now apprentice to Andre Fabre in Chantilly – were chasing one another around the pony racing circuit.

But the impact he has made since, over little more than six months with a professional licence in Britain, has outstripped even what his most ardent supporters could have imagined.