Spencer comes of age at Curragh

NO one, not even Mark Johnston, you suspect, will have left the Curragh on Sunday evening with a deeper sense of satisfaction than Jamie Spencer.

He was entitled to feel well pleased with his weekend's work, a couple of days at headquarters which saw a boy grow into a man!

Spencer must have travelled to the Curragh on Saturday feeling under enormous pressure. He had to be aware the whispering campaign was in full flow, that many in the game were beginning to believe he simply wasn't up to the biggest job in racing in Europe, first jockey at Ballydoyle.