Landmark for Aidan Coleman as he reaches 1,000 career winners

Aidan Coleman reached a landmark 1,000 career winners with victory aboard Western Miller at Stratford on Saturday evening.

The 30-year-old Irishman steered the Charlie Longsdon-trained eight-year-old to victory in the Timy Cup Handicap Chase, to join a select group of National Hut jockeys to have ridden that amount of winners.

Coleman told Racing TV: “It’s taken me nearly 13 years, but it’s great to do it. It’s a fantastic personal achievement, whether it means anything in the great scheme of things, I don’t know, but to me it’s quite a milestone.

“It’s so competitive these days – I’m 30 now and it’s taken me this long to get there. Maybe by the time I retire I might get 2,000 on the board, but I’ll appreciate this one now. It’s a huge personal milestone.

“It’s great to do it for Charlie as well. I’ve had a lot of support over the years, but Charlie has definitely been one of my main suppliers.

“I’ve been very fortunate in my career, I’ve always had very good people to ride for. Venetia (Williams) for years, the Bloomfields job for John Ferguson, which was very short, but very sweet at the same time, I really enjoyed that, and then Jonjo (O’Neill) and Olly (Murphy) recently.

“I’ve had an awful lot of support and I’m very thankful for all of it.”

Picking out a highlight, he had no hesitation in nominating the Emma Lavelle-trained Paisley Park, whom he steered to Grade One glory in the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

The Racing TV ambassador added: “I really appreciate finding Paisley Park. It’s 1,000 winners now and it wasn’t far off 1,000 without having a Grade One, which would have been an achievement in itself, but not for the right reasons.”