Everyone knows how good Sir Mark is as a trainer and the amount of thought that goes into each horse from Sir Mark is incredible. He calls me every morning around half seven and we go through each race with a fine-toothed comb and talk about what he think each horse will do and what our best approach will be to beat our dangers. Every race whether it’s a seller or a Group 1 gets the same attention to detail and thoroughness and when it comes off like it did with Don’t Be at Lingfield last weekend then it’s even better.

I think I’ve improved a hell of a lot tactically since I started riding for Sir Mark because he’s always looking for ways to gain advantages. In horse racing you can get beaten a short-head or you can win by a short-head and it’s those little advantages that can mean you’re winning the races instead of being beaten in them. He’s the master at what he does really.

No one is anywhere near as good tactically as Ryan Moore because he always seems to be in the right place at the right time, but I feel by studying races and knowing what the opposition are then you can get the little extras that can make the difference at the end of the race.

The All-Weather Championships mean there are a lot more good races with good horses and good prize-money to go for now so getting up to win by a short-head is even better now than it was before.

Before the all-weather was more just a filling between seasons for moderate horses and it was probably quite tedious. Now you’ve got much better horses running each week and a lot of trainers like Marco Botti are saving horses for an all-weather campaign.

It’s good for people like me that are busy through the winter and with places like Chelmsford putting on such good prize-money is fantastic. The sponsors supporting it like Coral have made a massive difference and it’s something that British racing should be proud to have.

It obviously all builds up to Lingfield and I’m already looking forward to riding a horse of Paul Cole’s called Complicit, who is being aimed at the Coral Easter Classic.

He finished second to that aeroplane Tryster on Finals Day earlier this year and he’s a proper all-weather specialist. I suspect he’ll be aimed at the Coral Winter Derby before Good Friday and he’s a horse I’m excited about this winter.

I’m not in action at Wolverhampton on Saturday but if I could ride one horse it would definitely be Chookie Royale in the 6f conditions race (1.35). He’s an all-weather specialist and he goes particularly well at Wolverhampton too.

Merry Christmas,
Luke.