Big-time career that started with Pace is still gathering speed

From precocious pony racing prospect to wonder kid of the Irish weigh room, Paul Townend certainly hit the ground running.

It's almost a decade since the baby-faced Cork-born teenager announced himself on the big stage with a lucrative coup in the 2008 Galway Hurdle aboard Indian Pace. Incredibly, just three years later, he would be crowned champion jockey.

The Galway success represented a huge triumph for trainer John Kiely, who was winning the race for a second time following Black Queen's success ten years previously. However, it was Townend, now ensconced as Ruby Walsh's deputy at Willie Mullins' relentless Closutton yard, who stole the headlines with his jaw-dropping coolness around Ballybrit.