I LOOKED back over my rides for the last week. The names of horses and trainers I’d ridden for felt more 2010 than 2014.
An old and familiar combination of John Quinn, Neil Mulholland and a sweep of other trainers on the flat and over jumps, it’s no wonder I’m clocking close to 2,000 miles a week again.
But against that mileage it was great to ride Wayward Prince again in the Charlie Hall Chase. This horse, along with Midnight Chase (Neil Mulholland) and Recession Proof (John Quinn) backboned my season three/four years ago and they were super horses on which to anchor the season.
When you ride a horse regularly, you establish a connection. So when I jumped back up on Wayward Prince last week, I felt he knew it was me; remembered the connection. I always liken it to revisiting an old home, or driving your old car again.
You know what buttons to press; the feel of the horse through the reins is familiar as well as the riding action.
I believe it’s the same for the horse as the jockey.
It wasn’t like the old days in the sense that we didn’t win but Wayward Prince still enjoyed a good run. Obviously he’s not at the peak of his powers anymore but I told the trainer Hillary Parrott that he’d win a veterans race before too long.
One thing that really impressed me this week was the performances of Brian Harding who rode three winners in Ayr on Saturday before following up with a single in Carlisle on the Sunday. Brian is 36 and a top pro. It’s great to see experience get its reward.
All these miles and the criss-crossing of the country I’m doing means I’ve had to stay away some nights, which is hard with a young baby at home. I pulled into a hotel last week and treated myself to two pints of Guinness and a packet of nuts for dinner, then went to bed and slept soundly until morning.
One big benefit of a night away is undisturbed sleep.
