When Pat Smullen was appointed first jockey to the powerful Dermot Weld stable last Autumn, Michael Kinane told him one thing: "You'll spend plenty of Mondays watching videos!"

It was nothing to do with having too much time on his hands and everything to do with how Weld expects his first jockey to perform. Hours spent analysing past mistakes on screen can provoke split second winning decisions when guiding half a ton of racehorse at 40mph.

"Tactics win races. You don't always need the best horse," Weld tells Smullen. It's what he told Kinane some 16 years ago, too.

Yes, that Kinane. The one who could now reasonably be argued is the finest Irish-based flat jockey there has ever been. Definitely one of the top current riders in the world. Derbys, Arcs, Melbourne Cups, you name them and that Kinane is the one with the winning T-Shirt. He might even be said to be something of a legend.

If Smullen has felt edgy about following in Kinane's literally small but symbolically huge footsteps, there is little sign of it. The former champion apprentice from Rhode in Offaly is a self-contained character with little inclination to bluster and every inclination to get to that red lollipop before everyone else.

It's a combination that has so far seen him slip almost seamlessly, with a minimum of idle comment, into the Rosewell House hot seat which is as big a compliment as this often notoriously short-sighted and bitchy sport can bestow.

"Of course there are comparisons with Mick and there is pressure, but it's my job to keep up to standard. This is a dream job for any Irish jockey who wants to stay in Ireland. Mick is someone I've always looked up to. He's just one of the best in the world, but the boss has been great and if anyone's going to make a jockey out of me, he will," Smullen says.

If that sounds like undue modesty for a young man already spoken of as a certain future champion, then Weld's expectations are unfamiliar to you. Weld does not suffer failure or fools well. His selection of Smullen to replace the Ballydoylebound Kinane in the first place was significant and nothing has happened to make him doubt his choice.

"Pat is a rising star in the same way that Mick Kinane was when he came here. People tend to forget that Mick was only something like fifth in the table when he joined me. Pat is less experienced, but there are similarities between them. Both are very strong, but what is vital is that both have a tremendous will to win," Weld says.

"I think Pat has the ability to realise he has made a mistake, analyse why he made it, and then try and rectify it. That is so much better than coming back in after a race and simply saying `oh the horse is no bloody good'," he adds.

The good thing for Smullen, who celebrates his 22nd birthday today, is that few of his current mounts fall into the "no bloody good" category. A crop of three-year-old colts have opened up a whole range of possibilities and Mus-If, a Group One winner at two, goes into today's Irish 2,000 Guineas with a realistic chance.

It's a scenario that Smullen has worked for ever since riding Vicosa in his first ever success at Dundalk in 1993. Having gained the opportunity, he now has to capitalise on it.

That's the beauty of flat racing, especially the top races. Only very rarely does a rider get more than one chance to get it right in a race. Even the top horses manage only one winning burst. Time that burst badly and a Group One classic opportunity disappears. It's something to concentrate the mind.

"There is some build up to these races with all the hype, but these are the best horses around. The Guineas winner (Island Sands) is coming over and so is Enrique, who impressed me at Newmarket. Lots were saying he wouldn't stay, but he looked to be running on well and it is classic form.

"But every race demands that you must be on the top of your game. These days every race is tight. It doesn't matter if it's a Roscommon handicap or a classic," says the typically level-headed Smullen.

He had been expecting to ride the unbeaten Tetrarch winner Major Force in the race, but the colt didn't please Weld in a piece of work on Tuesday morning and a £25,000 supplementary fee was not paid out to race him.

"Major Force will be a serious horse in the second half of the year with a bit of dig in the ground. Lots of Mus-If's best form is on softish going, too, but he won the National Stakes on decent ground and if it's good on Saturday, he'll be okay," Smullen says.

In one way, Smullen, who is tall for a jockey at 5ft 8ins, could feel that this Guineas weekend owes him except that is not his way. In 1997 he won a Group One pot for the first time on the Moyglare winner Tarascon only to lose the ride before she took last year's 1,000 Guineas.

"It was devastating. I was juggling between John Oxx, Mr Weld and Tommy Stack at the time and Mr Stack wanted me in his place more than I was able to be. I was looking to the future and I thought I made the right decision. In the short term it was the wrong decision to take, but now I'm happy with it. Hopefully there will be Guineas winners in the future and if I could get one early in this new job it would confirm things," he says.

It certainly would make looking at the video of the race something of a pleasure.