The Christmas festivals are on the horizon but there’s plenty of good racing this weekend, and I’m really looking forward to riding Yorkhill on his chasing debut in the two-mile beginners’ race at Fairyhouse this afternoon.

Much as I would love to ride Douvan in the Hilly Way Chase in Cork tomorrow, I can’t be in two places at once, and so I’ll be in Punchestown to ride Djakadam in the John Durkan Memorial. It’s a Grade 1 race, the biggest race of the day, and that’s the reason I’m going there.

The National Hunt season is hitting full stride now, and thus this is a good weekend for us to begin to unwrap some of our best young horses of last season.

Just two rides today, but they’re good ones, and I start off with Valseur Lido in the JNWine Chase at Down Royal. 

Still waiting for the season to get into full swing, but I’m a little bit busier on the track this weekend than in recent ones, with five rides at Wexford tomorrow.