Championship win is 'extra special' for Lee

Dave Keena caught up with the Limerick man, who has an unassailable lead over his rivals and is delighted he can now call himself champion jockey, "It has a nice ring to it. I've been waiting a while to hear it, but it's great to be able to finally call myself that (champion jockey).

"The ambition was always there, but a lot of things have to go right during the year. I had a really good start, and I thought I've been consistent all year. I tried not to look too far ahead and just concentrate on what was happening now. It's very satisfying (beating rival jockeys over the duration of a season) and I'm delighted that it has happened.

"The two of them (Paddy Twomey and Willie McCreery) have had a great second half of the year. Paddy had a great start, but they just lulled a bit, then they came back really strongly in the latter half of the season. For those yards to be going really well, it was important because you need your yards to be going well to have any shot at a championship like that, and I suppose Colin (Keane) or Dylan (Browne McMonagle) would say exactly the same. I have other yards that I ride for, and I've been lucky with them as well that they have been in great form.

"You always think it could happen, but you never get too far ahead of yourself. It's nice to be mentioned in the same breath as Tommy Murphy. Also, to be the first Limerick man to win it since Liam Ward makes it extra special.

"I would have loved to have won it when I was younger, in my twenties, but I just wasn't there as a jockey. To be winning it now, with Catriona and the two girls being there on the day when I collect the trophy, is extra special. They probably don't know the size of it at the moment, but they just tell me to go out and win that trophy every day I go racing. Hopefully, when they look back in a few years and understand it, they'll be hugely proud of me."

Additional reporting by Dave Keena.