Paul Mulrennan: 99 reasons why this has been a year to savour

The turf Flat season concludes at Doncaster on Saturday with the Virgin Bet November Handicap, so I’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on the year gone and to look forward to 2025. 

I nearly notched my 100th winner of the year on Reel Her In at Musselburgh on Wednesday, but it wasn’t to be. Hopefully, I can manage to find one over the next few days to reach that significant milestone for the fourth time in my career. 

It’s been a solid season overall; I couldn’t be happier with how things have gone. I’m still riding for the same people that I’ve ridden for since I started, so I can take a fair bit of pride from that fact.  

Jim Goldie (41) and Michael Dods (13) have been mainstay supporters, but other trainers have been very loyal and, for that, I’m grateful. Hugo Palmer (5-25), Iain Jardine (7-29), Sir Mark Prescott (5-10), Alison Hamilton (4-18), and Ed Bethell (2-6) are among those who have offered opportunities. Every winner counts and, at this stage of the game, riding 99 winners represents a good, solid season.  

The winners have been spread across the entire year and I haven’t really had any quiet spells. May to August was particularly productive with 52 winners across that period. I have been incredibly lucky in the sense that I haven’t had injuries, and the only significant suspension came when winning on Letsbefrank. 

Northern Express winning the Moet & Chandon International at Ascot, and American Affair winning the Portland at Doncaster were two great days. Every jockey is eager to be competing in, and winning, high-profile Saturday races. What a year Jordan Electrics has enjoyed! I was five from seven on him, including a Scottish Stewards’ Cup.  

The Sky Bet Sunday Series win aboard Letsbefrank at Pontefract gave me most satisfaction. I don’t think that Jim Goldie was given enough credit for producing not one, but two horses to be chasing a £100,000 bonus on the same afternoon. 

To have that opportunity across two separate fixtures – at Haydock, and then Pontefract – takes some doing. I’m lucky in that I ride for good trainers. Trainers like Jim (Goldie), and Michael (Dods) don’t run horses for the sake of running them. There’s always a plan with the best interests of each horse in mind. They have the experience and know exactly how to get the best from every single horse. 

Looking ahead, if you are continuing to ride well, and enjoy what you do for a living, you simply keep kicking on with that same drive and determination. This season sets the scene for next year, you need those good-quality Saturday horses, so with the likes of Northern Ticker, Eve’s Boy, and American Affair to name a few, there’s plenty to look forward to. Furthermore, no doubt the main yards that I ride for will also have a few more nice prospects to emerge come the spring.  

It’s back to Newcastle for four rides on Friday, with Ben Haslam’s Volenti (7.15pm) the pick. He has done well since joining the stable, carrying a 5lb penalty for a recent C&D win. That form was franked by the runner-up (Tasever) earlier this week. 

Emily Post (6.45pm) has plenty of ability, so fingers crossed we get a smooth run at things now after an unsettling experience (reared in the stalls) at Pontefract. She isn’t fully exposed on the AW, and the style of racing should suit her. She likes to be ridden quietly, and you can usually do that at Newcastle. 

Cuban Rock (6.15pm) has been running well, knocking on the door, in recent appearances, so must go there with a semblance of a chance, while I don’t know much about Jolie Coeur Allen (5.45pm) who is having her first run on the Flat after being placed three times over hurdles in Ireland for Willie Mullins.

I have two rides at Doncaster on Saturday, starting with Canoodled (3.10pm), who takes her chance in the Listed Virgin Bet Irish EBF Gillies Fillies’ Stakes. She’s a mare that I have ridden once previously. I got a good tune out of her in a Listed race at Ascot last October, she was only beaten half-a-length, so hopefully I can get a similar tune at Doncaster.

She has some work to do at these weights, but this time of the year can often be a leveller, and she did win over this trip at York in August. Her owner Laurence Bellman, an ardent West Ham follower, contributes plenty to our game.

I was aboard Adam Nicol’s stable-star Wise Eagle (3.45pm) when runner-up to Oxford Comma in Pontefract’s Phil Bull Trophy last time, so I’m looking forward to linking up with the 7yo again in the feature Virgin Bet November Handicap.He’s 103-rated, and carries topweight (9st 12lbs), but he stays well and will handle these conditions.