
Silvestre de Sousa in the weighing room at Ascot -- the racecourse where he hopes to be crowned the UK's champion jockey for a second straight season in October.

De Sousa is going head-to-head for the title with British jockey Jim Crowley -- the tussle looking set to go to the wire at QIPCO Champions Day on 15 October.

Despite being a relative unknown, de Sousa came close to a first jockeys' title in 2011, finishing runner up to champion Paul Hanagan.

His most notable victory was at the prestigious Dubai World Cup in 2014 riding for the mighty Godolphin stable.

There were a number of successes for de Sousa in Godolphin's colors but he was released as their retained jockey in 2015.

The Godolphin separation and his unusual passage into flat racing make de Sousa feel like "the outsider," he says.

Despite feeling like an outsider, the Brazilian considers himself to be an adopted Englishman and has reveled in riding winners for many leading British trainers.

From Newbury (pictured) to Redcar and every racecourse in between de Sousa has ridden a host of different race winners all over the UK.