Scudamore says: “Daklondike is improving all the time.”

Top jockey discusses his season

5.00 – Punchestown – Daklondike

He has had a break since he won at Newbury back in December. We were hoping to run him last week in the Scottish Grand National, however, the ground dried out for him.

The step up to 3m6f, the nature of the course and ground should all suit him so if he is a National horse, which we hope he is, he is going to be competitive in this.

What I really like about Daklondike is that he is improving all the time. He has come on leaps and bounds since going over fences.

He is right up there in the weights and that’s because he is one of the classiest horses in the race.

I am going there with plenty of confidence about him. Hopefully the fact he is fresh should play in his favour as many of these running at Punchestown are doing so after a long hard season.

Reflection on the season

The campaign is coming to an end now and it has been a frustrating season for me. I am down on winners on what has happened over the last few seasons.

There have been some high moments and the one that springs to mind is Mr Big Shot’s victory at Aintree earlier this month. All in all though, I will be happy to see the back of it come Saturday night.

I will have a week off after that and then I will be back riding throughout the summer meetings in the UK. I am already looking forward to next season and hopefully I can improve on my total.

Tom