TAKING ON SOME OF THE WORLD’S BEST: As you’re reading this, I should be in the middle of the opening ceremony for the World All Star Jockey’s Championship in Sapporo racecourse on the Northern island of Hokkaido in Japan.
It’s a privilege for me to be part of this Championship especially as I’m following on from Ryan Moore, Hughsie, Pat Smullen, Johnny Murtagh and many more as the European representative. I’m really excited about being here and I can’t wait for the racing to get started.
ENTERING THE UNKNOWN!
I’m not really sure what to be expecting when I get to Japan. I’m sure it will be like the Shergar Cup in many ways but it’s hard to know as I’ve never been racing in Japan before.
I was speaking to Pat Smullen and William Buick about the trip as they have both done it before and they said that it’s a really enjoyable event to be a part of. William was saying that where it’s being run this year at Sapporo, is a really nice area and there are quite a lot of the studs around that part of the country as well, although I may not get a chance to do much sightseeing.
Pat Smullen said that you get treated like an ‘’A’’ list celebrity while you’re there so I’m quite looking forward to that part of the trip!
As I say, I haven’t been racing in Japan previously but they sent us some information on the track and I’ve watched some videos and it looks relatively straightforward to ride. It’s right-handed and looks to be a very flat so shouldn’t pose too many problems.
In the same way as is done with the Shergar Cup, all of the jockey’s are drawn onto each of the horses in the four races.
It’s difficult to know about the horses I’m riding in terms of form but that’s all part of being a jockey. You have to be able to get on horses that you haven’t ridden before and be able to adapt.
Of the four rides I’ve been drawn on, Win Phoenix appears to have some decent form having run in plenty of Group races and has been up against the likes of Harp Star previously so it will be interesting to see what he’s like. He was placed in a Group 3 last year so I’d be hopeful that he will have a good chance.
I also ride a horse called Bernini which is owned Sheikh Mohammed which could be an interesting one also. My other two rides are Scarlet Devil and George George but, like I say, I don’t know much about them.
It’s going to be an experience that’s for sure but the competitive side will come out and I’m not just going to appreciate the scenery, I’ll be out there to win and I’m hoping things will fall my way.
GREAT WIN FOR DAVID ELSWORTH AT YORK
I was delighted to see David Elsworth getting another big winner at York last week with Arabian Queen in the Juddmonte International.
I actually had a couple of wins on her mother, Barshiba, including the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock in 2010.
They were actually very similar in the way they race as they both went from the front and they were both very game so it was nice to see it continuing down through the family.
I had a nice winner of my own in Chester on Saturday with Rowelstone Lass for Richard Price. I had fancied her a bit before the race but she needs a lot of things to go right for her, she needs cover and to come late.
She likes the track and everything went right last week as they went a good gallop and I was in front at just the right time.
QUIETER WEEK IN STORE NEXT WEEK
Next week will be a relatively quiet week for me as I’m going to be arriving back to the UK on Monday so I won’t be going racing then.
At the moment, I’m down to ride in Goodwood on Tuesday for Marcus Tregonning on a horse called Castle Combe. I was second on him in the two mile race at Kempton on the 19th when I rode a double. I’m looking forward to getting back on him next week, I’d be hoping that he’ll go close.
I’ll be back on on Tuesday with a full run down on everything that went on in Japan over the weekend and hopefully there’ll be some good news from me then!
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