Sean Levey was the first black jockey to do pretty much everything

For starters, he was the first to ride in Ireland, where he won four group and listed races as a youngster based with Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle and rode in Irish Classics

DREAMING OF GLORY: Sean Levey would like nothing better than to ride a Group 1 winner in Ireland. ‘It’s one thing I’d love to tick off my bucket list,’ he says. Pic: David Davies-Pool/Getty Images

The cacophony of glass shattering from ever greater heights has been a joyous soundtrack to horse racing in recent years, even if the sport’s slight self-congratulatory tone surrounding the stunning feats of Rachael Blackmore and Hollie Doyle have grated at times. After all, those ceilings didn’t erect themselves.

Of course Blackmore and Doyle’s record-breaking achievements have been built on the gradual gains of others that were in themselves, monumental, from pioneers such as Jean O’Connor and Helen McDonogh right through to Nina Carberry, Katie Walsh, and Hayley Turner.