IT’S been a good seven days, returning three winners, two on the Flat and one over Jumps. The first arrived at Worcester on board Spieta, a mare who was making her debut over jumps, for John Quinn.
Then I registered a back-to-back double on the Flat with a night’s sleep sandwiched between them.
The first was a horse called Siouxperhero in Brighton on Thursday and then Inniscastle Lad got home in Nottingham on Friday, both for William Muir.
It’s the first time I’ve had a double victory on the flat, albeit with a mattress moment in between, so that was a new personal best of sorts (Commonwealth Games starting in Glasgow this week etc etc!)
Nine times out of ten, the best horse will win on the day. And 99 per cent of the lads in the weighing room can win on that horse – so I don’t think too much about how many races I win in a row.
It is unusual to have a jumps winner and two flat winners, but it would not be the case in Ireland where there are more mixed meetings.
So it can get a bit wearing, constantly being asked to make the distinction between the two forms.
It’s four legs and a tail, a big green grassy field with white railings on it. One has jumps, one hasn’t.
If a carpenter works with timber whether he’s making a door or a skirting board he’s still working with timber.
I’m the same whether it’s a five furlong sprint or a three mile chase.
I had 72 flat rides over the course of about 10 weeks last year – and two of them were winners. So last week is definitely a mark of progress.
Last year I was pretty light after getting injured. That’s why I decided to apply for the Flat license. It wasn’t a conscious thing, but it just went that way and William Muir was giving me rides and thankfully a few winners have followed.
It’s nice as a jockey to prove that you can do both forms. I expect to do more for their stable in the coming weeks.
And if this heat keeps up, it will be easy to keep the weight off!
This week’s selections:
Saturday, Telescope 3.50pm Ascot win £10
Thursday, Doncaster 5.35pm: Retrofit £5 e/w
Last week's results:
£5 each way Carla Bianca, Darley Irish Oaks, 5.45, The Curragh, Saturday. Non-Runner
