Early start in Maguire’s bid for title

JASON Maguire will begin his quest to end AP McCoy’s 18-year domination of National Hunt racing at Wetherby tomorrow.

He rides Donald McCain’s Life And Soul in tomorrow’s first race that will herald the start of the 2013-14 jumps season.

The 2011 John Smith’s Grand National-winning jockey hopes a fast start to the season – he has three rides at the West Yorkshire track’s family fun day – will allow him to build a significant early season lead over McCoy as he seeks his first title.

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McCoy, 39 next Saturday, will be sidelined for several weeks with rib and sternum injuries after suffering a horrific fall at Cheltenham 10 days ago in which he was catapulted into the air before landing awkwardly.

Champion conditional in 
1994-95, the record-breaking rider has ridden the most winners in 18 successive seasons and had a 40-plus advantage over Maguire, his nearest pursuer, when injury struck.

McCoy spent several nights in hospital, a further indication of the seriousness of the injuries to afflict racing’s ‘Mr Indestructible’.

Yet, while Sandown’s flat and jumps card should be a day of celebration for McCoy and Nicky Henderson, who is champion trainer for the first time since the mid-1980s, it is slightly nonsensical that the new season begins within 24 hours.

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It gives jump jockeys and stable staff no time to recoup after a gruelling winter campaign in atrocious weather and it prevents the Flat season from gaining some much-needed momentum after a stop-start season began with the postponement of Doncaster’s Lincoln meeting for seven days before being overshadowed by the drugs scandal to envelop Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation.

As such, competitive Flat cards at Ripon this afternoon – and Doncaster tonight – will find themselves playing second fiddle to Sandown’s card in which Maguire partners The Rainbow Hunter in the season-ending bet365 Gold Cup Chase.

This is the riderless horse that chased Sue Smith’s Auroras Encore up the Aintree run-in at the end of the John Smith’s Grand National after parting company with Aidan Coleman on the first circuit.

Maguire, who has switched agents from longstanding friend Chris Broad to Northern-based Richard Hale in a bid to increase his riding portfolio in 2013-14, has always held The Rainbow Hunter in high regard.

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A wide open race sees Malton-born Andrew Tinkler reunited with Quentin Collonges nearly two months after they recorded a famous victory in the Grimthorpe Chase at Doncaster. With just 10st 12lb at the bottom of the handicap, horse and rider have a great chance to pull off a memorable double in a race that will always be known as the ‘Whitbread’– despite various sponsor changes in recent years.

The Yorkshire-born rider also has three rides for Henderson at Ludlow tomorrow while Wetherby’s card features Grand National-winning rider Ryan Mania who enjoyed a midweek treble at Sedgefield, including Durham National success on Lackamon.

n British Horseracing Authority officials are set to start rigorous testing at former trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni’s yard on Monday.

The disgraced Al Zarooni has been banned for eight years after administering anabolic steroids to 15 horses under his care at the Godolphin-owned stables in Newmarket.

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While a licensed trainer is required to be in charge of yard, BHA boss Paul Bittar is working with Godolphin to find an immediate solution to this issue.

“There are two assistant trainers but neither of them are fully licensed. It’s likely that (Godolphin’s other trainer Saeed) Bin Suroor will have oversight for a lot of the horses, or Godolphin may choose to decide that Moulton Paddocks will not be used at all during the course of the British summer.”

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