JIM Crowley had just won his first race of the day by one-and-three-quarter lengths, but still had ended up in a photo-finish. On his way back to the weighing room the jockey found himself facing three racegoers looking for the 21st-century version of the autograph, the selfie.

But there appears to be little stopping Crowley on the track in his pursuit of the Flat jockeys’ title as he goes into the final week with a lead of 14 over Silvestre de Sousa, the defending champion, and he appears to enjoy the trappings that go with his rising profile.

“I’ve definitely noticed a bit more attention and it’s nice that people are taking an interest,” he said. “But as I’ve learned from being a jump jockey you take nothing for granted.”

Crowley’s family trained point-to-pointers and he rode more than 300 jumps winners with no interest in Flat racing until he came to realise that size does matter.

“I never wanted to be a Flat jockey – I thought they we were wimps,” he said with a laugh. “But I was just a bit too small; I was nine-and-a-half stone, so I was weighing out to ride at 11-12 and the trainer could barely lift the saddle.

“I still feel I never achieved quite what I wanted to do over jumps. I set out to be champion jump jockey and it never happened. But if I can do this I’ll have done something worthwhile.”

Nine centuries in the last 10 seasons would appear the far side of worthwhile but it is that title that draws Crowley with the strength of a magnet. His challenge has been gaining momentum since August with a have-saddle-will-travel attitude that has had the rider clocking up the miles but also made him something of an absentee from family life as he admitted: “I think all the other mothers at the school think my wife’s a single parent.”

The title run has been masterminded by Crowley’s agent, Tony Hind, who was also responsible for both Ryan Moore and Richard Hughes winning the title for six of the previous 10 years. “He was the first agent I went to when I switched to the Flat and he scoffed at the idea,” Crowley said. “When I knew Richard Hughes was retiring last year I approached Tony again and I think Ryan put in a good word for me.

“Tony said, ‘what are your ambitions?’. I said I wanted to finish in the top five. He said. ‘you’re no good to me son, I want a champion. And I can make you champion if that’s what you want’.”

If other sports agents are characterised as Mr Ten Percents who only see dollar signs, Crowley speaks more of a mentor.

“Not only is he my agent, he gives you great confidence. If you have a bad day he’ll say, ‘don’t worry son, you want to see the rides I’ve got you for next week,’ and you get off the phone feeling great.

“I started the year as a freelance so, on paper it looked hard, but then it got to Glorious Goodwood and we decided to give it a go. I was about 18 off Silvestre and was a 66-1 shot to win the title but it just snowballed.”

Thirty-eight winners in August were followed by 46 last month, a British record, as Crowley reeled in and then passed De Sousa.

“I’d go a few clear but he would bounce back – we’re both very stubborn and we both want to win the title. Silvestre’s a tough guy and a good one,” he said. “A while back he said to me, ‘good luck tomorrow, I hope you ride five seconds’.”

De Sousa has already conceded defeat and Crowley can look forward to lifting the trophy at Ascot on Saturday safe in the knowledge that, while he might be posing for a few more selfies, this is one race for the line that will not be going down to a photo-finish.