Striving for respect and recognition as final piece in career jigsaw

Silvestre de Sousa can empathise with Paul Hanagan, who is adjusting to life without the comfort of a Maktoum retainer. It is a route De Sousa travelled two years ago after he lost his position with Godolphin.

His response to adversity was emphatic. A return to the freelance ranks in 2015 saw him close the year as champion jockey for the first time. He'd been narrowly denied the title four years earlier, when Hanagan pipped him by four scant winners, and if the bookies have it right the pair of them will slug it out for the prized accolade over the next six months.

De Sousa narrowly shades the market at 7-4, with Hanagan a 5-2 chance. They are followed by Jim Crowley, Andrea Atzeni and Ryan Moore but to all intents and purposes it is a two-horse book. Except that De Sousa doesn't see it that way.