Last week will live long in the memory of a number of Irish jockeys for contrasting reasons.

Six times Irish Champion Jockey Colin Keane cemented his position as an elite rider on the International stage with his two Group One victories at the York Ebor Festival.

I'm from Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary and no-one in my family has ever looked at a horse or touched one! One summer when I was 16, I was mucking out stables up on The Hill (Piltown, Co Kilkenny) for Joseph O'Brien and the Head Lad came up to me and asked if I had ever ridden out. I said I had and that I would give it a go. I got all the equipment and went up the gallop and got a love for it then. I told a fib as I had never even sat on a horse! They copped on straight away that I hadn't ridden out. I couldn't tack up and I put the saddle on backwards! I didn't have a clue.

From there, I rode out every day even on school days and weekends. I would ride one or two lots before school and I did it day in day out. They had a breaking and pre-training yard which was 10/15 minutes over the road, so I went over there to learn a bit more. Assistant Trainer Brendan Powell brought me over and was teaching me and teaching me. Then I went back over to the Hill every day. The lads and jockeys there were great to me and taught me a lot while I was there. It is a great place for any young jockey to go to. All Joseph's apprentices and jockeys have a great way of riding. You look at Dylan Browne McMonagle - he is strong and stylish and he is what every jockey would aspire to be like. I remember going in there on a Sunday and Joseph would ride out and would pull me up to the front of the string with him. He told me if I needed to put my heel down or up, or shorten my reins and grab them up a little bit more. It really did teach me the basics.