100 winners and counting

It was a good trip up north to Newcastle on Friday where I rode a double.

That put me on 99 winners for the season, and while Cheltenham was a little frustrating, it was great to bring up 100 on Sunday.

Fingers crossed we can bring up another hundred before the end of the season!

The most important thing is to stay in front of everybody else and be champion jockey again.

Saturday at Cheltenham

As for the ground, it was very testing and there have been a few things said about the watering they did last month.

If they hadn’t watered then we may not have had the October meeting.

We’ve raced on the ground for three consecutive days and that’s put a lot of pressure on it.

When rain comes like it did on the second day of racing, it gets into the ground very easily and by the Sunday it’s very bad ground.

I’m sure Cheltenham will be reviewing the situation, but the reality is that with rain coming midway through the meeting, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the track.

Gumball didn’t cope with it as well as we’d hoped, but at the same time the winner, Apple’s Shakira, was very impressive.

I’m still a big fan of Gumball, and I’m hopeful he’ll be better again on a sounder surface, but you’d have to be impressed by the winner. She sets the standard now for March.

I was beaten before the last on Ballyoptic in the novices’ chase. There was no fluke about Black Corton’s win, though – we were beaten by a better horse on the day.

He still ran very well and hopefully the more experience he gets the better he’ll become.

Three Faces West ran a very decent race after almost 12 months off the track. It was great to get him back.

There are lots of valuable staying chases around and hopefully we’ll have a good season and he’ll get his head back in front very soon.

We were very pleased with Pineapple Rush’s debut. They really liked her at home but obviously Cheltenham is a big place to come for your first run.

I think there’s every chance you’ll see her in another bumper soon and wherever she goes next she’ll have a fantastic chance.

Sunday at Cheltenham

On Sunday, Ozzie The Oscar jumped very nicely but probably just didn’t get home on the ground.

North Hill Harvey looked impressive, he’s looked very slick on both his chase starts, and overall I was pleased with our horse.

The New One ran a great race in the Greatwood Hurdle off a mark of 163. He seemed as good as ever.

At the end of the day, he was beaten by better handicapped horses more than anything else.

The idea will be to go back to the International Hurdle, where he’ll have every chance of winning the race he won last year – it will take a tough one to get by him.

We were very pleased with Crooks Peak, who won the bumper. After just a win at Newton Abbot, you’re never sure how good they might be, but he travelled really well and stayed up the hill.

He’s only a four-year-old and is still growing up. In a perfect world and, all being well, the Champion Bumper at the Festival will be his target.

With Crooks Peak and Pineapple Rush, the two that ran at Cheltenham, and Tidal Flow, Philip Hobbs looks to have some very smart bumper horses.

Other highlights from the weekend

I thought Fox Norton was very impressive in the Shloer Chase. I’m sure he’ll be back for the Betway Champion Chase.

Slate Horse was the other one that I thought did it nicely and he looks set for a big winter as well.

Bryony Frost has had a fantastic season so far, including winning a big handicap two weeks back and then landing a graded novices’ chase on Saturday – it’s a great time for her.

Her brother Hadden and her father Jimmy were both good jockeys, so she’s certainly got the right pedigree for the job.

If she keeps doing what she’s doing then she’ll have a great career ahead of her.

I saw Faugheen’s win on Sunday at Punchestown and every Champion Hurdle hopeful will be fearful of him now.

Though he’s getting a bit older, Jezki is still a force to be reckoned with and he brushed him aside pretty easily.

One for the week ahead

Westend Story might go to Market Rasen on Thursday. He’d be the one to look out for.

He ran a good race on his reappearance at Carlisle and I think he’ll come on plenty for that.