NO REGRETS, NO SECRETS - AND THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

Nick Townsend talks to jockey Kieran Shoemark about his winning battles on the track and off it

- Nick Townsend

When Kieran Shoemark - invariably measured in his pronouncements reflects with a wry smile "I'm a big fan of Frankie's but we don't share any personality traits." Few would dispute it. Indeed, racegoers are as unlikely to witness a flying dismount from the man who has replaced Dettori on the John and Thady Gosden riding roster - any more than they would have expected from Lester Piggott.

Shoemark nods in agreement. "No, that wouldn't be my style." The flamboyant Dettori was, of course, a complete one-off. Yet, not for one second does that mean that his successor doesn't possess the character, temperament and fortitude to impress his name on the sport and maybe beyond in the coming years, as the Italian has both in and out of the saddle.

Shoemark's ascent on the path that's led to Clarehaven, the all-powerful Newmarket base of the champion trainer father and son combination, has been remarkable, particularly given a much-publicised stumble along the way.

As we sit outside the weighing room of Windsor racecourse the day before the start of the Craven meeting, I ask him whether, as an apprentice with Andrew Balding 10 seasons ago, whether he could have imagined scaling such heights? "Well, yes, because I had a dream," he says.

"I wanted to be at the top of my sport. But I believe I'm not there yet. I've still got some improving to do, a long way to go and a lot of races I'd like to win.

"So I believe this is my most significant year to really propel my career and I look forward to taking that. I have some very exciting horses to ride." He adds: "There's a lot of exciting older horses that are staying in training, the likes of Emily Upjohn who I rode in the Sheema Classic (Group 1, at Meydan) in late March. I think that put her right for the Coronation Cup. I think she's got a big year ahead. Another is Trawlerman in the staying division."