Gavin Sheehan: my recent milestone and Sunday prospects

The first half of the season has gone well for me and couple of weeks ago I hit the landmark of 800 career winners. It was at Ffos Las and I needed two wins to reach the milestone… and fortunately they came up in the first two races of the day. 

I never in my wildest dreams thought when I came over to England that I would reach a number like that. To be honest, I would have been over the moon if I’d got to 200. Now the task in hand is to try and get the next hundred, and then obviously I’d love to get to a thousand. It’s not an easy thing to do, but I’ll give it my best shot and hope I keep receiving the support from trainers and owners. 

I think it’s brilliant and a great incentive, particularly in that it rewards the top 10 jockeys and not just the one on top. I want to be in every single ITV race that there is this year to give myself the best chance of finishing in the money. If I was lucky enough to finish up near the top of the leaderboard, the first thing I’d want to do with the money is get a new car… and a driver! Then if there was anything left over, it would have to be a holiday with the family, somewhere warm with a private pool. 

There's no Ga Law in the feature Trustatrader Peterborough Chase but I still have four rides on the card.

Milldam (2.25) is one that does handle the track having won here last year, but my concern is that the ground may not be heavy enough for him. I think he’s a horse that goes better the worse the ground gets with three of his four wins coming on ground described as heavy. Having said that, he did finish the season off well earlier this year and I hope he’s a nice horse for the future. 

I’ve got three rides at Sandown on Saturday and the first of them comes on Juby Bell (12.08) in the Listed novices’ hurdle. He finished second at Sandown on his last run back in February and this is only his third start under Rules. He handled the track nicely last time and wasn’t beaten far by Sixmilebridge who then went on to run in the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival. This is his first run over hurdles, and he will be better for having something to jump, so this is an exciting ride to get.  

In the mares’ handicap hurdle, I’m teaming up with James Owen with Mermaids Cave (12.40). This mare finished seventh in a competitive event at Wincanton last time out, but before that she was an easy winner under Sam Twiston-Davies. This looks a competitive affair, but I’m looking forward to it. 

The first of the ITV races, and therefore giving out Jockey Cup points, is a handicap hurdle and I’ll be on Super Survivor (1.15). He’s in good form and he is returning to hurdles which will suit. This is his first run of the season, so he could improve for it, but at home he seems like he’s in a really good place. I wouldn’t be surprised if he put in a bold showing. 

The first Grade One of the day is the Henry VIII Chase and is a small field but a competitive one, I’m partnering Soul Icon (1.50) and he’s been pretty unlucky if I’m honest, having been the bridesmaid for all of his last five runs. He’s a good, quick jumper, and if the ground isn’t too soft and he gets into the same rhythm that he has done before from the front, I think he should have a massive chance and could be hard to catch. 

The Tingle Creek is the big race of the day on Saturday, and all eyes will be on Jonbon (3.00) and Nico de Boinville. I think he’ll be hard to beat as we know he handles the track having won here four times before. He was also really impressive at Cheltenham on his reappearance, so he should come on for that too.