Irish jockey Robbie Dolan has made it beyond the callback phase of the singing competition The Voice Australia and the Kildare man has the approval of popstar Rita Ora to boot.
Sydney-based jockey Dolan relocated Down Under back in 2017 and has since ridden 233 winners - but it is now his singing exploits taking centre stage as he stars on the Australian iteration of The Voice.
The Voice is a talent show which places the power at the judges' fingertips; facing away from contestants as the hopefuls begin to sing, they then press a red button which rotates around indicating that they are interested in taking them through to the next stage.
Dolan initially impressed in his audition as he belted out a rousing rendition of James Bay's 'Let It Go'.
The callback shows followed and Dolan once again came through with flying colours, with a brilliant cover of Lewis Capaldi's 'Before You Go' a notable performance en route to the last preliminary round before the semi-finals.
His run on The Voice is in stark contrast to his regular day job on the racecourse, but Dolan said he always had a penchant for singing and horse racing simply got in the way.
In an interview with Thoroughbred Racing, he said: "Singing has always just been a hobby to me.
"I did school plays years and years ago and always really enjoyed singing.
"Racing took over my life but just recently I’ve started to learn guitar and try to do a few gigs.
"It’s a step away from racing. I’d love to get into it but it’s hard to have two lives and racing is everything at the moment.
"They are very different worlds but once I got the opportunity to perform on The Voice I was like, ‘Why not, what have I got to lose?’"
Following his initial audition and the subsequent revelation that he was a professional jockey, judges Rita Ora and Jessica Mauboy were stunned.
And after impressing all four judges, he earned the right to choose between Ora, Mauboy, Keith Urban or Guy Sebastian and opted for Ora.
She said: "The fact you haven't got a clue how good you are is probably the reason why everyone watching is falling in love with you every time you speak through that microphone.
"You are creating a whole new book for The Voice, for people who had no idea they could hold a note."
