All hands to pump as title chaser resolves to avoid sinking feeling

Colin Keane churns out all the obligatory platitudes when asked to summarise what it is that is good about Longines Irish Champions Weekend.

“It’s massive,” he says of the two-day extravaganza that was the platform for the biggest win of his career when Ardhoomey landed last year's Group 2 Flying Five Stakes. “It's up there on the global stage as one of the biggest events on the Flat calendar.

"Last year the first three home in the Irish Champion Stakes were among the top horses in the world – that’s some tribute to the race. The prize-money on offer is huge, so it's attracting the calibre of horse it deserves.”