PINT-SIZED MARCO WILL BE BIG STAR

Robert Cooper, Sky Sports Racing’s roving reporter, highlights a young jockey who looks destined to be the next Italian hot-shot

- Robert Cooper

Even when he’s not smiling Marco Ghiani looks cheerful. Last month 22-year-old Ghiani was crowned Champion Apprentice for the recently concluded All Weather season, but now the serious business begins as the turf season starts to blossom. Almost every Italian jockey who lands on these shores is hailed as ‘the next Frankie Dettori’ but as we will discover long after Frankie hangs up his boots, there’s only one Frankie. Not even the brilliant Andrea Atzeni, now an established world-class pilot, can aspire to such an accolade.

There’s no point getting too big for your boots, and Ghiani’s boots aren’t very big. I didn’t produce my measuring pole when we met recently at Wolverhampton but after lowering the interview microphone on the socially distanced Sky Sports Racing tripod, I would guess he stands around five foot, and we didn’t mention shoe size.

A relaxed demeanour can count for plenty, as Hugh my yoga teacher frequently remarks. There’s no need to grin like a Cheshire Cat all day long, but even a minute upward curl of the mouth can produce calming qualities in the heat of battle. I’ve noticed that most world-class athletes in all sports appear to perform as if they have all the time in the world. Just look at Dettori, Murphy or Moore when they next win a big race. Cucumbers all three.