DANNY Mullins has endured the ups and downs of jockey life as much as anyone, from starting out as the bright young thing with a treble while a 7lb claimer on the Friday of Galway in 2008 to gaining and losing the job of retained rider to Barry Connell.

There have been great days and leaner times since, but he has become a very thoughtful rider, one unafraid to work outside groupthink, using creativity and experimentation to solve the problem of race-riding.