Gavin Sheehan: Strong book at Town Moor

I visited Cheltenham this week, but it was a bit different compared to what it’ll be like in a couple of weeks. The David Power Jockeys’ Cup riders were there for Dartenham with pro-darts player Damon Heta and it was brilliant fun. You can see the action ahead of the Cheltenham Festival on social media, and no spoilers as to who came out on top between me and Sam Twiston-Davies…

Five good Doncaster rides

I’m up at Doncaster for five rides on Saturday and I’ve got a good few chances across the card and, more importantly, two of the races having Jockeys’ Cup points up for grabs.

The first ride is on Miss Cynthia (2.05) in the listed Mares’ Novices’ hurdle, and she’s a lovely type, this horse. She won around Market Rasen on her last start and had finished second twice prior to that, but she seems just a nice, straightforward type. It looks a really hot race and there are some nice horses in this, but I think she has a solid chance here.

Some Scope (3.15) is near the top of the market in the Grimthorpe, and although I haven’t ridden him the last couple of times he has run, I know that he likes the track and the ground. I’ve won on him around Doncaster before, so I know that he doesn’t mind coming here and that he’s a straightforward ride, and I’m looking forward to getting back on him.

I’ve got another ride for Lucy Wadham with Pretending (3.55) who is off bottom weight in this handicap. She won for me first time out this season around Uttoxeter and that was a very solid run, unfortunately she hasn’t been able to back that up since, but hopefully she might just enjoy Doncaster. She’s a very nice mare and a joy to ride so I’m hoping she can put her best foot forward and spark a bit of a revival.

Walden (4.31) is having his first run in a handicap and is given top weight to contend with in this race. I haven’t ridden him before, but he looks like a nice type. He’s owned by Value Racing who have horses with Jamie Snowden so it’s nice to keep the association going with them. It’s a bit of an unknown when horses come into a handicap for the first time as to where their true mark is. So we’ll certainly know more about him after this.

To round out the day I’ve got my first ride for James Owen with Cavern Club (5.07) who last won at Cartmel last summer. He went close at Cheltenham back in November and has had the first part of the year off so hopefully he’ll be quite fresh from that. It looks a competitive race so I’m hoping if we’re there at the finish then we can make our presence felt.

Gavin Sheehan is an ambassador for BetVictor