Three-time champ Silvestre de Sousa looks sharp and hungry as he bids to return to the top in Britain

Beware the top-class jockey with a point to prove. Three-time British champion Silvestre de Sousa has been kicking his heels for the best part of a year but showed his hunger to attack the Flat season on Saturday.

Winning the first race on turf at Doncaster on the impressive Charyn might not have been the most arduous task, but it set the tone and De Sousa made it clear in his post-race comments that he was delighted to be back, proclaiming he loved British racing and its people.

De Sousa is looking to start afresh after his stint in Hong Kong ended in regrettable fashion with the serving of a ten-month ban for breaching betting rules by facilitating fellow Brazilian jockey Vagner Borges in placing a bet on his mount at Happy Valley. It was an indefensible act, for all that it was out of character.