English/Ire
Colin Keane stars in Champion Bumper on The Mourne Rambler
Colin Keane, best-known as a six-time Irish champion Flat jockey, added his name to the select list of Flat riders to win at the Cheltenham Festival when steering The Mourne Rambler to success in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.
An impressive winner at Leopardstown over the Christmas period, Noel Meade's contender was sent off 15/2 in the hands of Colin Keane, who was looking to join the likes of Jamie Spencer as a Flat jockey to have won the Champion Bumper.
The Chris Gordon-trained Bass Hunter raced with bundles of exuberance out in front but those in behind always looked poised to strike and Keane, who had weaved his way through the pack into a promising position, delivered The Mourne Rambler with a well-timed run to claim the prestigious prize.
"It's up there with my career highlights," said Keane, who has won multiple Group 1 Flat races across the globe and is retained rider for Juddmonte. "I'm fortunate enough to have had some great days and this was a bucket list item of mine to tick off – just riding here, never mind winning – so this is brilliant.
"Riding in this wasn't on my mind until Noel rang me and how often do you get the opportunity to ride in a race like this, as trainers have their jockeys. When Noel rang me, it was something I grabbed with both hands and an easy 'yes'.
"He rang me about two weeks ago and I was riding at Dundalk and had a missed call off him and when I rang him back, he asked if I would be interested and I said 'of course'. I just needed to get my licence sorted and now the rest is history.
"I suppose the nerves were a little different walking out in front of a crowd like that, it's a different level really and Ascot can be busy, but this is some atmosphere."
Winning trainer Noel Meade added: "He's a good horse I think but we'd never really tried him before. That's the first time really. I know at Leopardstown he was pushed a bit but we've never pushed him at home.
"People were slagging me for booking Colin and saying that those flat jockeys will get killed in this race, but I told them this is no flat jockey, he's different class. They won't frighten this champion.
"It's marvellous to be back here. We've only got about 15 jumpers - about a third of what we used to have- but we've got about 45 flat horses. It's just great.
"I know this family and everything that's been bred has been good. This fellow is the best of them, and I thought he'd handle the ground because he's light.
"I'd say he'll stay at two miles because he has plenty of speed. His jumping needs a bit of ironing out, but we can work on that now."
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