Hitting overdrive in pursuit of a first jockeys' crown

Bang next door to where Jim Crowley and his family live in a stunningly converted old threshing barn on the Harwood-owned Coombelands estate lies the village of Stopham.

Now there may be a number of jockeys down the years who might feel Stopham to be something of a spiritual home. But Crowley, currently buzzing round Silvestre de Sousa’s jockey’s crown like some pestilential gadfly, could never be one them. He can’t stop 'em winning.

His challenge for the jockeys’ title has materialised from somewhere beyond the wide blue yonder. But there has been an inexorability to the way he has closed the gap on De Sousa and the finish with this particular Brazilian has the makings of a notably close shave with Crowley having eked out a lead of two.