I’m delighted to be able to finally get my hands on the Jump Jockeys’ Championship trophy this Saturday – it’s felt like a long time coming!
It will be a special moment and I’m sure we’ll celebrate it well. I’m looking forward to a few days off after that too. It was great to round off the season up north with a treble at Perth on Friday, and Donald [McCain] hitting 155 winners is a phenomenal achievement.
Minella Trump, one of the three Friday winners, has to get a mention too. He’s won eight times this season which is almost unheard of. Overall, I can’t quite believe how well everything has gone and I’m extremely grateful to everyone that has helped me do it.
Sandown Season Finale
Nuts Well in the Oaksey Chase (2:25pm) and Presentandcounting (4:40pm) look like my top two chances on the final day of the season at Sandown.
Nuts Well ran okay in Grade 1 company at Aintree, where he looked like finishing fourth but just tied up in the run-in. The step back to 2m6f from 3m1f should suit, and he wasn’t disgraced when sixth in the Celebration Chase last year, so he should have a good each-way chance.
If Presentandcounting hadn’t fallen the last day, then he’d have definitely been placed. He’s usually a very sound jumper, but he just got in a bit close. He’ll like the good ground and the big galloping track at Sandown. The way I see it, he would have possibly finished a good second last time and we’re now 6lbs better off with Harry’s [Skelton] horse, Beakstown, who’s about 2/1, and we’re a much bigger price.
In the big handicap, the Sandown Gold Cup (3:32pm), I’m on Domaine De L’Isle. He ran in the National only a couple of weeks ago but unseated at the 15th so that race shouldn’t have left much of a mark. You wouldn’t know exactly how that race has affected him, but Sean [Curran] and his team wouldn’t be running him if they didn’t feel he wasn’t ready for another go.
Red Vision (1:50pm) has won a maiden and a novice hurdle this season and this represents a big step up in class.
Beyond The Clouds will by my final ride of the season in the handicap hurdle (5:15pm). He’s up in trip to 2m4f which we always thought he’d get, but he’s got to carry top-weight so that makes things difficult.
He got quite a nasty cut after his last run back in October, so whatever he does tomorrow he should improve plenty for.
