I’ve had a good week with some nice winners and broke a record at Ayr on Monday… Dreams of Home was my 100th winner of the season – apparently it was the quickest time in which a Northern jockey has reached the 100 winners mark, so that was pretty cool. I rode a treble the next day at Sedgefield and have had a quieter week since.
I’m at Bangor tomorrow where I have five rides and will be trying to keep the winning momentum up!
Saturday 27th November – Bangor:
12.15pm – Heartbreak Kid
He ran well the last day, his first run of the season. He needed the run, finished 3rd and was only beaten 4lengths – he ran really well but got tired. It’s not a bad race tomorrow but he’s got a nice racing weight and we’re fairly hopeful for a big run.
1.22pm – Tanarpino
I don’t really know much about Tanarpino. He was a winner at Bangor over 2m4f two starts ago, and I think the ground was probably a little bit quick for him – although they called it good to soft, Sean Quinlan thought it was a bit quick for him. Obviously without knowing the horse or having ridden him before, I don’t know what to expect and I’d be more hopeful than confident. He’s won off higher marks in the past, so I’d like to think he’ll run a decent race if on top form.
1.57pm – Richmond Lake
This horse surprised us all by the way he won over course and distance a couple of weeks ago – he put in a hell of a performance and won by 15lengths. We thought he’d need his first run and obviously the horse who finished 2nd, Creative Control, went out and won the other day, another one of ours. He’s a nice type of horse and a reproduction of his last run would see him go pretty close. We’re looking forward to running him on Saturday and arguably I could make a case for him being my best ride of the day.
2.32pm – Gredin
He’s a nice big horse owned by a football manager, David Moyes, and his friends – he won well the last day, a stiff 2m4f seemed to suit him. There are a couple of interesting runners in this; Thunder Rock was a good winner for Olly Murphy last time and Stag Horn is a very highly rated flat horse, so if he transfers his flat ability to hurdles, he could be tough to beat. We expect Gredlin to run a decent race and think he could be seen in a better light over fences.
3.42pm – Jungle Jack
He’s a horse who’s having his first run for us. A point-to-point winner over a year ago – not entirely sure why he’s had a year, but I know the trainer (Donald McCain) likes him a lot, so I’d be hopeful for a decent run. The other horse I could have ridden, Stroll On By, for Charlie Longsdon, ran well the last time and was a bit unlucky. I think he’ll take some beating but I’m hoping Jungle Jack gives him a good run at least.