OVERNIGHT sensations rarely last the course, burning brightly before fading away like one hit wonders, whereas slow burners take a bit longer to really take off but tend to be more reliable and make much more impact long-term.
As a jockey, Sean Levey is in the latter category and, while he has already compiled a solid body of work at a high level, is arguably at the top of his game now as a mature 36-year-old.
Though he has been a top-class rider for many years, he is perhaps only now being more widely recognised as such, principally by dint of masterful rides on Rosallion in high-pressure contests this season, judging difficult assignments to a nicety on a top-class colt but one whose searing turn of foot needs to be utilised at the right time for maximum effect.
It looks seamless when it comes off but the reality is that such wins are anything but, when split-second decisions make the difference between victory and defeat.
Naturally, his last-gasp win in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas on his boss Richard Hannon’s brilliant colt was special, providing a glorious homecoming for the former Aidan O’Brien apprentice.
“The dream was always to come back to Ireland with a favourite’s chance in a Group 1,” he relates. “And for Rosallion to win that day in the manner he did it was fantastic. It was a brilliant training performance, it was great for the yard to have the first and second.
“I had family there too, my mother and brother were there; it was a special day. She is my biggest supporter and she watches every race I ride in. She sometimes turns up in places to see me ride without me knowing in advance she was going to be there!”
The Blue Point colt then cemented his status as the season’s best three-year-old miler with victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, in similar fashion.
Lot of pressure
These were more exalted situations than Levey had experienced before; riding a horse that was expected to win championship contests but he revelled in it, explaining; “Sure, there was a lot of pressure for Rosallion to prove he was the best three-year-old miler. Riding horses in big races when they are expected to win is different from doing it on an outsider and winning, there is way more pressure but those situations are the ones that you want to be in as a jockey, riding at the top level.
“He was expected to win at the Curragh and then again at Royal Ascot but every Group 1 is different and it isn’t always straightforward to do the same thing again, especially on the round mile at Ascot. There is a lot of satisfaction when you do win, of course, and you want more of it. You get to thrive on it.”
Unfortunately, a respiratory infection prevented a repeat clash with Notable Speech in the Sussex Stakes and his chances of running again this season are dependent on suitable ground conditions. Levey is philosophical about it, though;
“Obviously, it is hugely disappointing for his owner and everyone in the yard as well as the racing fans but the horse always has to come first and he has to be 100% before being asked to race again.
“It is a possibility that he will be seen out again this year but he has to have the right conditions. However, the prospect of him racing next year is very exciting and you could see him winning all those big mile races.”
Away from the glamour rides, though, Levey is just as focused and hungry to win. Two winners from two rides for Hannon at Ripon’s Great St Wilfrid meeting a week ago showcased his range as well as any big race.
Less exciting for the purists and perhaps unnoticed by many but, if you were the owners of those two horses, Linwood and Signcastle City, you would have been thankful Levey was aboard, because, with two contrasting rides, he likely made the difference between victory and defeat.
One involved nursing an unbalanced two-year-old home on that tricky, undulating course and the other getting a wily older horse to give enough while staying within the whip rules; job done both times; no fuss; next!
That ‘next’ happened to be at Deauville in the Group 1 Prix Morny for regular ally Brian Meehan and a quest to put an end to the “fluke” talk about Rashabar’s 80/1 Coventry Stakes win under Billy Loughnane.
Levey has ‘previous’ at Deauville, winning the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet in 2022 on the Hannon-trained filly, Aristia, his first Group 1 winner in France.
His pre-race confidence that the Holy Roman Emperor colt, who runs in the legendary Robert Sangster colours, would run a big race was proved to be correct, as he was a close second to Ballydoyle’s Whistlejacket, with many observers feeling that if the stalls positions were swapped around, the result might have been too.
Absolute blinder
“There is no doubt Rashabar ran an absolute blinder in the Morny,” Levey exalted. “He was unlucky to be drawn where he was and the race developed the way it did away from him. But he lives to fight another day and hopefully he can go one better the next time he runs.”
That next time could be a clash with the winner again in the Middle Park Stakes, while a trip to the Breeders’ Cup is firmly in connections’ mind too; the easy mile at Del Mar would look ideal.
More interesting
Levey’s journey to top-level rider is one of the more interesting in the sport and is worth retelling.
His late father, Dublin-born Michael, was himself a jockey, riding winners in England and many countries around the world, living a young man’s dream of travelling and riding before settling in Swaziland (now Eswatini) where a relation was living at the time. He established various businesses there, including running a racecourse and having his own racing stable before deciding to return to Ireland with his family and settling in Cashel.
Sean was a young teenager at the time but settled in well to the new environment, which was quite different from their life in Swaziland, surrounded by open savannah and exotic wildlife. He recalls;
“We had actually briefly lived in Croydon in London for a while before finishing the move to Ireland and that was much more of a culture shock. Being surrounded by countryside in Tipperary was more like what I was used to.
“My Dad started working for Aidan and then I worked there on weekends and holidays. My mother, Margaret, known to everyone as Pini, still works for Aidan. During that time, my Dad sent me and my younger brother, Declan, up to trainer Tony Beggan to get experience in pony racing and that time was a major factor in me becoming a jockey.
Sean sits under a painting of Giant's Causeway in the 'hall of fame' in the guest pavilion of the Giant's Causeway yard, in Ballydoyle in 2008 \ David Donohue
“Declan was junior champion one year and I just missed out on being senior champion by two winners. That gave me valuable experience and confidence while it brought out the competitive side of me; I loved winning races!”
He then got his apprentice licence while at Ballydoyle and, though he won several listed and group races for O’Brien and rode numerous high-class horses, he felt that a move to England, which many young Irish flat jockeys make, seemed his best career move at the time.
Plenty of opportunities
“Aidan was, and still is, very good to me, and gave me plenty of opportunities on some very nice horses but the time came when I needed to use my claim and so I came over to England.
“Quite a few of us came over from Ireland at around the same time, Martin Harley, Ben Curtis are others I can think of. Initially, David O’Meara held my licence but I suppose back then owners wanted to use other more experienced riders and it wasn’t easy for David to back me so much when he was trying to get going himself.
“But then I started riding winners for trainers like Karl Burke and John Quinn. I then got an opportunity to go down to Richard Hannon senior, I was friends with Kieran O’Neill, who was there at the time and I basically went down for a trial period.
“It went well so they eventually took over my licence and I have been there since. I owe both Richard senior and junior a huge amount because of the opportunities I have been given there.”
A significant milestone in his career was winning the 2018 1000 Guineas on Billesdon Brook for the yard at 66/1, a day he fondly remembers:
“Well, I had some good years before that first Group 1 and it wasn’t for lack of trying but yes, it was a significant milestone to finally get that win. She had been very keen in the Nell Gwyn Stakes before but I got her to settle lovely in the Guineas and I probably got there too soon, so well was she going.
“Unfortunately, I broke my collar bone later that season but I got back on her the following season and I felt that I had the key to her and she got her form back. I won six races on her, including the Sun Chariot Stakes and ending up at the Breeders’ Cup with her, albeit she disappointed that day.”
Levey renewed his Ballydoyle link recently, winning the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket on the smart Lake Victoria, which was actually his first win in the famous Michael Tabor colours.
He has also recently laid down roots in England, buying a house in Collingbourne Ducis, a picturesque village between Hannon’s two yards, with wife Toni and is experiencing the joys of helping to look after their five-month-old son Michael John, named after his late father.
He also has an eight-year-old daughter, Ava, from a previous relationship, living in Ireland, who he reports is mad into ponies and was at the Dublin Horse Show last week.
Sean Levey being congratulated by his mother Margaret and brother Lindani after Rosallion had won the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas \ Healy Racing
However, for all the success he has achieved, he remains humble and doesn’t forget his roots. He mentions a host of names from his time at Ballydoyle who were both friends and postive influences on his life and career, alongside the boss, Aidan. Names like Tommy Murphy, his son Andrew, Mick Molony, Pat Keating, Hazel Galloway, Jondi O’Byrne and his brother Roger. While most of that list obviously have other allegiances, they will surely still have taken great satisfaction from Levey’s achievements this year, as will have most neutral racing fans.
The latter group long to see more of Sean Levey in big races and that is very possible in the second part of the season, even without Rosallion.