Village Vic was great at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day. He made a mistake at the second which was purely down to the ground.

If it was better ground, he’d have winged the fence, but he just got stuck in the mud a little and went through it instead.

It was another positive step forward for him and you never know how far they’re going to go when they get on a roll.

To win four on the bounce as a handicapper is fantastic. He’s a real improver and it just goes to show how well Philip’s [Hobbs] string is at the moment.

At some point the handicapper is going to slow him down, but I’d still have thought a handicap would be his next assignment. It depends where Philip wants to go next.

He’s a very straightforward horse, jumps really well and two-and-a-half miles is the right trip.

He might get an entry in the Ryanair, as you never know what can happen, but we’ll see where we are after his next race. There’s lots to look forward to.

It was nice to keep him and Champagne West apart. Champagne West ran really well last month and it’s just a case of finding the right handicap for him. I think it’s very solid form, Tenor Nivernais franked it with his good run in second.

The ground was horrible at Sandown on Saturday and Reaping The Reward ran really well in the veterans’ chase. He travelled well, but just didn’t quite get up the hill in the conditions.

He’s relatively lightly-raced for a 12-year-old and I think the Scottish National is the plan for him. It’s good to see some of these northern raiders come down and run so well in the South.

The veterans’ series is a great initiative and should be applauded. It gives horses some great opportunities to run for some decent money during the season.

It was unfortunate that the whip rules came into focus again after Boxing Day.

I understand that it’s a very hard issue for the BHA. There’s almost no right or wrong. But when a horse is responding it’s hard not to use your stick.

We all try to adhere to the rules, but I can guarantee that all every jockey wants is to do their best on a horse.

We only use the stick when the horses are responding to it. When you’re in a long distance chase on heavy ground, it’s completely different from a two-mile hurdle, never mind a five-furlong sprint.

There’s been some brilliant racing over the past couple of weeks and we all want that to continue.

ITV/Channel 4

Channel 4 have done a great job over the past 30 years promoting our sport. It’s very important for racing to be on terrestrial TV as well as the racing channels.

ITV is a slightly different audience so you’d hope they will attract some new viewers. They wouldn’t have taken it on if they weren’t going to get really involved, so hopefully they can continue the great work of Channel 4 when they take over next year.

Ludlow

I’m at Ludlow on Monday for four rides and they all look to have fair chances.

Providing he settles better, Ink Master should go close in the handicap chase (2.10pm). He did a bit too much too early at Ascot last time.

Kahaleesi is a nice mare in the Bumper (3.50pm). She does everything really well at home, but conditions will be pretty testing and that is always a worry.

She’s a proper National Hunt-bred mare, though, which will stand her in good stead.

Racing betting

READ: Richard Johnson: Richard Johnson: Village Vic has a very good chance of following up