Cool-headed schoolboy Ben Coen sets sights on apprentice title in first season

He won't turn 17 until later this month but promising apprentice Ben Coen has been performing with maturity beyond his years since arriving on the Irish Flat scene, with the young talent now setting his sights on the apprentice title in his first full season with a licence.

The Fethard, County Tipperary native registered the third double of his career at Roscommon last Monday and landed the Ulster Cesarewitch aboard the Charles Byrnes-trained Waterville Dancer on Friday. Then his opening race triumph at Listowel on Monday aboard Andy Slattery's Check My Pulse took him level with Killian Leonard at the top of the season's apprentice championship on 16 wins.

Ben Coen is all smiles after scoring on Mid Winster at the Curragh in AugustCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

However impressive the teenager has proved on the track this season, his efforts off the track are also notable as he is still attending school and has just entered his final year of exams.