Congratulations to Amy Ryan, our new champion apprentice and the first woman to win that title outright. I gather from today's Racing Post that she'll celebrate by disappearing off to Tenerife this week and good for her. She's clearly had a change of heart, though, because when I interviewed her a couple of weeks ago, she was determined to plough on through the winter, mixing a bit of racing with the hunting and show jumping she uses to relax. "When it gets to January, February, I'll probably take a holiday then, go abroad somewhere," she said. "There's no point doing it in November because then, when it gets to March, you're knackered again."
At that point, of course, she was still worried she might not get across the line in front. Now she has and some downtime is clearly in order. Ryan has the talent to make a proper go of her career and it will be fascinating to she how she gets on next year.
It's jumping all the way until Wednesday and some big names will turn up at Navan for the Fortria today. Big Zeb has won this for the last three years but, very likeable as he is, he's 11 rising 12 and there were clear signs at the end of last season that his powers were ebbing. Flemenstar's presence makes this a much better race than last year but the fear for him is that he'll need the run. He always has needed his reappearance in the past and that tendency is likely to be exaggerated with age.
That means Realt Dubh (2.50) has a fine chance of his first victory since Fairyhouse's April meeting last year, at the end of his novice season. He travelled well in his reappearance race at Down Royal, in the Grade One won by Kauto Stone, but didn't get home over the three miles. With Noel Meade in his customary fine form at this early stage of the season, Realt Dubh is a fair bet at 5-2 behind Flemenstar, who has drifted out to 11-10.
The best bet at Ffos Las may be Weekend Millionair (3.05), a 3-1 shot for the staying handicap hurdle. David Pipe's charge should be suited by three miles and won a novice race well at Wincanton recently. His mark has not been raised to reflect that career-best effort.
At Market Rasen, Artisan (3.50) is of interest at 7-2 in the closing handicap hurdle for conditional riders. Brian Ellison's beast made an ambitious start in handicap hurdles at Cheltenham's October meeting but had previously hacked up in a Flat race at Catterick and can get back on track at this level.
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