On a personal note, I have always found Kevin extremely approachable and he talks a lot of sense without being too cliched. He represents his jockeys well and always speaks his mind, applying good oratory to boot. He is a bright guy and it comes as no surprise that he is one of the few jockeys to carry around a lap-top in the Jockeys Room.

Riding for nearly 30 years on the circuit, Kevin had a good start and was Champion Apprentice in 1978 having learnt the trade from the famous Reg Hollinshead (the chief guru of many appretice riders).

It would be fair to say that throughout the 1980's and early '90s he was considered one of the top "northern" riders without looking to get into the very top notch.

However, it was both through signing up as Peter Savill's stable jockey and having a very busy agent that Kevin got to be appreciated by a vast cross-section amongst the trainers in the UK.

The Savill connection led him to having a very famous association with one of the top 2 year olds of recent times, Celtic Swing. Together, they won the Royal Lodge and Racing Post Trophy at 2. Then they were just touched off by Pennekamp in an enthralling 2,000 Guineas before coming good in a higher than average-quality French Derby which for some reason, pundits seem to malign.

From there, Mark Johnston quickly appointed Kevin as his principal jockey - a position he has retained since 1996. Only twice since 1993 has Kevin not scored the magic ton. In 2000, he was indeed Champion notching a score of 155 which shows the intense compeition there is at the top of the jockeys ranks.

More recently, Kevin has had a great association with the brilliant filly, Attraction. Together, they front-ran there way to a record-making English and Irish 1,000 Guineas. They were also twice defeated by that other great filly, Soviet Song, but that just goes to show the excellence of that particular vintage.

For me, probably my favourite Kevin Darley ride was the cunning way he stole the E.P.Taylor Stakes at Woodbine in Canada in 2002. He rode the others to sleep from the front and kicked clear when he wanted to.

This ride just exemplifies the fact that he is one of the safest pair of hands amongst world jockeys, alert from the gate, energetic, strong and rythmical in a finish without thrashing a horse home. And this coming from a fan of the US style of riding which Kevin will attest to not trying to emulate!

• Born: 5/8/1960
  
• Apprenticed to Reg Hollinshead
  
• 1st winner: Dust-Up, Haydock, 5/8/77
  
• Champion Apprentice: 1978
  
• 1st Group Winner: Borushka, 1984 Park Hill Stakes
  
• French Derby, Celtic Swing, 1995 & German Derby, Belenus, 1999
  
• Group 1s: 21
  
• UK Classics: 2002 St.Leger, Bollin Eric & 2004 1,000 Guineas, Attraction
• Irish Classics: 2004 Irish 1,000 Guineas, Attraction
• 1,000th winner: 28/4/95, Busy Banana, Carlisle
  
• Champion Jockey: 2000, 155 winners
  
• Career Total: 2,129 to end of 2003
• 2,215 to end of 2004
  

2002