Title leader from first race of year, hero Hanagan seven rides away from history

Paul Hanagan is seven races away from becoming the third Northern-based horseman to win the jockeys' championship in 105 years after Elijah Wheatley (1905) and Kevin Darley (2000).

With a day to go, he continues to discover hidden reserves, mental and physical, to repel the relentless challenge of rival Richard Hughes, the Classic-winning rider also seeking a first title.

Yet, while Hughes is backed by the top southern trainers whose batallions of runners traditionally excel in the autumn, Malton-based Hanagan has been forced to excel on many unfancied horses while his advantage – 22 winners recently – ebbed away.

The leader since landing the opening race of the season seven months ago, Hanagan takes a fragile two-winner advantage into today's finale at Doncaster after another pulsating day.

Hanagan struck first with a double at Southwell to stretch his lead to four. Still, it was not over. He then made a lightning dash across the Midlands to Wolverhampton where Hughes struck back on Towy Boy.

Undeterred, Hanagan responded immediately aboard Mark Johnston's Home Office – the title race has deflected attention away from the Middleham trainer saddling over 200 winners this season.

Still Hughes refused to accept defeat. He cut the deficit to three aboard Pipers Piping before both drew a blank in the next race, Hanagan's 11th of a remorseless day, before Hughes responded in the last race to record his hat-trick, making it all square for the day and setting up a thrilling climax to the season.

Both rivals have seven mounts at Doncaster today – scene of the extraordinary denouement to the 2007 championship when Jamie Spencer won the very last race of the season to draw level with Seb Sanders on the 190-winner mark. They said that it would never be repeated. But it has – Hanagan has already ridden more winners than both men – with the mundane all-weather circuit again witnessing a great sporting duel.

To 37-year-old Hughes whose family is steeped in the sport, it will be another in a long list of accolades, the culmination of a distinguished career that has been a constant struggle against the weight. The tallest Flat jockey in the UK, he lives off a diet of fresh air and tobacco, making his challenge even more admirable.

To Hanagan, a journeymen jockey until this year, the title will be a fitting reward for years of toil. He's fortunate in another regard – his metabolism poses no weight problems.

This is racing's very own North-South divide; the underdog Hanagan versus the riding purist Hughes.

Unassuming individuals, neither man is in the battle for the financial riches. Many end-of-season races are virtually worthless and there's no prize money for the jockeys' championship. Just the prestige. And, for the past two weeks, Hanagan has even been riding for free – his accrued prize money and racing fees are being donated to Alder Hey Children's Hospital and former trainer Jack Berry's appeal to build an Injured Jockeys Fund respite centre in Yorkshire.

It is a gesture typical of a sportsman who says he has been "fortunate" to enjoy such a successful year, including a first-ever Group One success on his boss Richard Fahey's brilliant 2000 Guineas prospect Wootton Bassett.

Hanagan had no idea that he would be in this position. After riding his own 'magnificent seven' winners on the first weekend of the season at Doncaster in late March, punters told him that they were backing him, at 40-1, to become champion. Even then, they could see a special season unfolding.

Hanagan smiled with embarrassment. "It went in one ear – and straight out of the other," he told the Yorkshire Post at the time. "I know my goals – a century of winners and, hopefully, the chance to win some of the bigger races. I'm not going to change anything – I just want to keep my feet on the ground and keep improving."

Those who know the jockey, and who have been instrumental in transforming his early promise into the tenacity of a champion, are not surprised by his modesty. They also know that the pint-sized rider – he's 5ft 4ins tall – is always striving to improve.

This desire stems from his childhood in Warrington. After being told he was too small to be a footballer, Hanagan, at the relatively late age of 14, started riding out for local jumps trainer Terry Caldwell who his father used to ride for. He does not countenance the word 'defeat'.

A diminutive Hanagan then spent his holidays riding National Hunt horses at the yard of Malton trainer Malcolm Jefferson where Caldwell's son Peter worked.

"When he left school, Paul moved to Malton and had a year with us," recalled Jefferson. "He was very small – still is – but he was a really good lad. I had a little horse, Over The Beck, who I could put Paul on. He could pull – but he never took off with Paul. That morning, I knew he would be special. He just had this knack of getting horses to run for him, even though he was very weak physically.

"He was a very good listener. He never made out that he knew everything – and he's still like that today."

Jefferson also provided Hanagan with his first-ever ride – a fourth place finish at Haydock, the jockey's home track, in 1998. But, as his stable concentrated on National Hunt horses, Jefferson knew that his talented teenager was destined for a successful Flat career – and recommended him to Fahey who trains nearby.

"I said to Richard that he was a really good lad. He went and never came back," says Jefferson who, like all Yorkshire racing fans, has been tuning into the low-key meetings to follow this struggle.

Like many, he's become intrigued by the unfolding drama – such as Hanagan's nerveless victory on Iron Condor, under the Kempton floodlights in the gathering gloom late on Thursday after his lead had been cut to one. Regularly, he finds himself checking the results in Hanagan's races.

"It's exciting," concedes Jefferson. "Paul has only ever worked for two places – myself and Richard. Not many lads can say that. I hope he does it."

While Jefferson can watch, and hope, Fahey provides Hanagan with four rides today. If it comes down to the finale, he hopes the doughty Kaldoun Kingdom will prevail. The horse is due a win.

"Paul's been with me nearly 12 years," says the trainer. "He's not changed since day one. He's just a bloody hard worker. Riding-wise, he's a lot stronger. People are surprised that a jockey 40-1 for the championship can win – but it's no surprise to those who know Paul Hanagan."

These include Fahey's German-born jockey Freddie Tylicki. Sidelined with a chronic shoulder injury, he won his own momentous battle for the apprentice title a year ago when he edged out David Probert.

He can sympathise with Hanagan and how his colleague has virtually doubled his workload. "He's a great man. He's always on the gallops in the morning. He's always wanting to improve. He's a true professional. And he's always willing to help others – the stable comes first.

"Horses run for him. I disagree that he's unfashionable. If you've ridden nearly 200 winners, you must be special. You never get a bad champion."

As for Hanagan, he realises that he still has a professional job to do today – even though he is exhausted. No jockey has ridden in more races this season. He admits to riding on instinct. He's had sleepless nights. "It's been great for racing, but not great for my head," he said. "I know I've still got a job to do. I'm riding for owners. I can't let them down."

The words of a champion.

ALL TITLE JOCKEY'S FAMILY CAN DO IS sit down and WATCH . . . AND HOPE

"I CAN relax a bit now" says Anna Hanagan moments after her husband, Paul, won a crucial race in his title quest, writes Tom Richmond.

"The trouble is that Hughesie will probably win the next."

The title race has been an exhausting physical and emntal ordeal for the two protagonists. They have been riding on adrenaline. At least they have some control of their destiny – albeit through their riding reins.

Their loved ones can only watch ... and hope.

"It's been crazy," says Anna, speaking while trying to watch Thursday's racing on television and look after the couple's energetic two sons Josh, four, and Sam who will celebrate his first birthday shortly.

"All I can do is keep encouraging Paul. He's done brilliantly – I have to remind him that he can be proud of his achievements – but he's so hard on himself if he missed a win.

"When he comes in at night, Tom and Jerry cartoons are straight off, even if Josh is watching them. The racing replay is straight on. The same with EastEnders which I like – at least I've watched it this week because he's been away.

"But that's Paul. He works so hard, always has, and he will not settle for second best."

On those rare days when Hanagan has not been riding, Anna, who also works as a secretary at Malton trainer Richard Fahey's yard where her husband is stable jockey, has insisted on days out to escape the title battle.

"I've been trying to take his mind off racing," she says. "I try and switch the conversation to the kids. Even football. I know I'm not great at football, but I know that he's Liverpool crazy.

"Even this has been difficult. He's been wanting to watch Richard ride, even though I've been saying 'there's nothing that you can do'.

"Late at night, when Paul's got home after another day when his lead has slipped, all I can tell him is to put it behind him – and look forward to the next day. What else can you do?"

While her husband toiled at Southwell and Wolverhampton last night, Anna was holding a small family fireworks party for their children and Paul's parents Geoff and Sheila. A television was on in the corner; the family, at times, unable to watch the growing tension.

The whole family will be at Doncaster for today's date with destiny.

"I just hope, for his sake, he does it," says Anna.

Hughes did not win the next race on Thursday. For a moment, Anna harboured dreams of her husband landing back-to-back wins.

"He's halfway through and he's leading," she says before the conversation draws to a quick close.

She's been watching so much racing that she knows every contour of the tracks where the championship has been played out. Neither rival won the race in question.

But Anna was pragmatic. "We're all proud of Paul, whatever happens," she said.