It’s been relatively quiet on the racing front this week with some cancelled meetings on Wednesday, but I still managed to bring up a double at Chepstow before that which is always nice.
With less of a frantic week than normal it was a case of spending a bit more time with the family and doing a bit of car shopping as I’m on the look out for a new one – any sponsors out there, get in touch!
But, who knows, if I find myself at the top of the David Power Jockeys’ Cup come April that might be the first thing on the shopping list.
It’s a really strong card at Sandown and I’ve got four rides in front of the ITV cameras. I’ll be aiming for the win across all of the races with the hunt on for David Power Jockeys’ Cup points.
My first mount is Grand Geste (1.25), one of two rides for Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith. This looks a wide-open race and I definitely go with a chance here. This horse has finished third on his last two runs so we’ll be hoping to go a couple better. Hopefully he’ll like Sandown because, as I’ve mentioned here before, some horses can take to this track more than others.
Gunsight Ridge (2.00) is my first ride of the day for Olly Murphy, who is flying this season and really showing his credentials as a trainer. I’ve only ridden this horse once and that was at Wetherby this time last year. Unfortunately, he fell as we were making our move and challenging the leaders. He also fell at the last at the last at Cheltenham two runs ago when he was two lengths down on Matata and he would have gone close had it not been for that mistake, so hopefully we can get back on track here at Sandown where he has run well. He’s got a massive chance if he can travel and jump in this.
What A Johnny (3.07) is off a light weight in this £100,000 contest and, after finishing third around Cheltenham last time, can be in the shake up here. I’ve not ridden him before and Sean Bowen has done the steering the last twice on him, but hopefully off this light weight he can definitely be in the mix.
O’Connell (3.42) is bidding for a hat-trick in the three-mile chase and I think he holds every chance. I won on him at Carlisle two runs ago, and since then he’s had another victory at Market Rasen on Boxing Day. I know that he’ll relish this stiff finish and hopefully he’ll be able to keep on progressing.
Silver Hill (4.12) is another to have won at Market Rasen when I steered him round back in December on his first run. He never looked like winning that race, but the penny started to drop turning into the straight and I think he won going away. It was a really good performance given he was behind the bridle the whole race, but he’ll need to step forward for this. In truth, we just don’t know how good this horse is yet.
I’m heading up to Musselburgh for the one ride in front of the ITV cameras on Sunday and that’s Bowmore (1.55) for Henry De Bromhead – my first ride for the trainer. Bowmore won at Tipperary back in July and has stepped up in class since without scoring. It’s a small field here and I’m hoping that my mount will be able to be there at the finish to round off the weekend with a few Jockeys’ Cup points.
Gavin Sheehan is an ambassador for BetVictor