Paul Mulrennan: Detective can find the answers at Carlisle

The show rolls on to Carlisle on Saturday evening where I’m booked to ride for five different trainers. I start for Ann Duffield with the 40,000 guineas foal Mister Richard (6.50pm). It will be the first time I’ve ever sat on this juvenile but watching the replay he ran reasonably well on his debut at Redcar. He wasn’t beaten all that far (Mahagoni finished second) and Ann’s horses generally do improve for the run.

My Friend Stan (7.20pm) is running for the third time for Julie Camacho. He’s been off the track for such a while (six months plus) and is kind of withering down the weights. Once rated as high as 82 during his Irish days, he’s slipped down the handicap to a mark of 58. However, that certainly isn’t by design.

In the next race, I partner the C&D winner Detective (7.50pm) for local trainer Dianne Sayer and he’s probably my best ride on the card. He’s lightly raced (started off his career with Sir Michael Stoute) and although relatively lowly-rated appears to have plenty going for him dropping back into a Class 6 handicap. He didn’t have things drop his way over a mile last time so should appreciate stepping back up in trip.

Eligible (8.20pm) is part-owned by golfer Lee Westwood, and he ran his best race since joining Mick & David Easterby when fourth of 18 at Doncaster. Obviously he’s been off for a while since, but that isn’t a major concern as the Easterby’s can get one ready after a break. On paper this looks to be a fairly open contest but he’s definitely one of the most interesting candidates.

Sandy Thomson’s horses are running well and Zamarkhan (8.50pm) will be fit from competing over hurdles. He finished runner-up at Perth before taking a fall at Southwell a few days later. As Sandy’s first Flat runner since last summer, you’d imagine he’ll be facing a stiff task against some of these younger horses.

It’s a little disappointing to see just four runners declared and personally I’m surprised there aren’t a few more three-year-olds in there, but equally over the years the Eclipse hasn’t tended to draw a massive field.

I hate sounding boring, but Mishriff looks like he has everything. He’s a hardened horse, he’s been there and done it, and with the ground being on the easy side of good that isn’t going to be a problem either.

Former Champion Apprentice David Egan is one of the up-and-coming riders in the weighing room, so it’ll be great for him to have a first Group 1 winner in England. St Mark’s Basilica appears the main danger as a winner of three Group 1 races (Dewhurst Stakes, French Guineas and French Derby).

It’s great to be keeping busy, and over the next few months things will undoubtedly become busier still. After an overnight stay near Sandown, I’m back for Carlisle on Saturday and then move onto Scotland for the early part of next week. Richard Hale books all of my rides and we’ve been together for 17 or 18 years. Getting plenty of rides, and riding winners, is great but obviously it’s more of a challenge otherwise; when things are going well you just keep going.

Based in North Yorkshire, I’m close to the A1 and have ten racecourses within an hour of the house, so I’m very lucky in that respect. I do all of the driving myself, and being so central and in such close proximity to a major motorway makes even the journeys south relatively trouble free.

The ongoing coronavirus restrictions have meant that professional jockeys can ride at only one meeting per day, and frankly that’s great news for us and I really hope it stays that way. The traffic has become increasingly busy over the last six weeks (since opening up) so it’s a no-brainer to keep this policy in place. All of the jockeys seem healthier and happier, and the fact that you may miss a ride or two elsewhere levels itself up come the end of the season. By flying here, there and everywhere, all you are effectively doing is burning diesel and being a busy fool. Mentally, physically and financially, we’re going to be better off continuing to do one meeting per day. You’ll last longer and that’s a fact!

The entire weighing room was shocked by events at Hamilton Park on Tuesday, but it is fantastic news that both of the injured RaceTech camera operators are reportedly on course to make a full recovery from their injuries. Echoing the words expressed by Clerk of the Course Harriet Graham, racing isn’t overly important in such difficult times, and it was 100% the correct decision to abandon the fixture.