Sean Levey eyeing even better things to come with QEII winner King Of Change

Hard work has paid off for jockey Sean Levey, who captured his second Group 1 in a month aboard King Of Change at Ascot on Saturday, but the journey has taken a lot longer and proved to be a little harder than expected.

In 2011, Levey was still an apprentice and left Ballydoyle to join the Richard Hannon yard – then under the control of Richard Hannon senior – where he rode as fourth jockey behind Richard Hughes, Pat Dobbs and Ryan Moore.

Slowly he has earned the senior position and on Champions Day he rode King Of Change to an emphatic Queen Elizabeth II win adding to Billesdon Brook's Sun Chariot Stakes success. Those wins are exactly why he made the move in the first place.

"It's nice to finally get to this position, there's no doubt it's been a long, hard road but it's going well and it's nice to be at this level because it's what every jockey wants," said the rider, who was born in Swaziland.

He added: "It's been a long year and it'll be nice to get a break, getting some Group 1s on the board will make it all the sweeter and they're undoubtedly the highlights."

Sean Levey aboard Billesdon BrookCredit: Alan Crowhurst

With 60 winners in Britain this year Levey is just 13 shy of a career-best total and that could well go in the coming months. "I'll be around for the winter, I may get an opportunity to ride abroad at a couple of the bigger meetings, but most of the time I'll be riding here," he said.

Unsurprisingly he is already looking forward to next year, with King Of Change likely to remain in training and the mile division crying out for a star. Levey believes his mount could be that star.

"I think the plan was always to keep him in training at four and I'd like to think that's still the plan," he said. "He's always looked like we wouldn't get the best out of him until he was four, and he's always been trained with that in mind. He has every chance next year of being a very good horse.

"You have the Lockinge and Queen Anne, and all being well that's how he's going to start off next year – he's in the right yard to be a top miler anyway.

"I could see him at some stage getting a mile and two [furlongs], but he probably doesn't have to. If he can dominate at a mile like he did yesterday then he wouldn't have to, would he?"

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