His baby face belies the extraordinary talent that makes Spencer one of racing's rising stars.

Spencer is currently retained by Newmarket trainer Luca Cumani but many believe he is destined for a move to a bigger stable, and he is being tipped as a potential future champion jockey. He is the only current rider to pick up regular rides with both of Flat racing's powerhouses, Godolphin and Aidan O'Brien. Spencer is clever, determined and tactically aware - as his audacious ride on Kyllachy in the 2002 Nunthorpe Stakes at York proved. In the course of the five-furlong sprint, he guided the colt from an unfavourable draw to the other side of the track and just got up on the line. However, he may need to refine his riding style which has earned him several suspensions, most notably a 16-day ban which caused him to miss a couple of big meetings at the end of the 2002 season.

Spencer burst onto the scene as a teenager when he partnered Tarascon to victory in the 1998 Irish 1,000 Guineas, and he repeated the trick aboard Gossamer four years later.

In 2001, Spencer cemented his growing reputation by riding the Cumani-trained Endless Hall to victory in the $1.6m Singapore Airlines International Cup. And he secured a dream win away from the Flat scene when claiming a victory at Cheltenham's National Hunt Festival in March 2002. His father George had trained the Champion Hurdle winner, Winning Fair, at the Festival 39 years earlier.

But there was disappointment for Spencer in last year's 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

He was narrowly beaten on hot favourite Hawk Wing by Aidan O'Brien stablemate Rock of Gibraltar. However, some compensation came in the form of victory on Gossamer in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.