Willie plays it safe in risk versus reward stakes

In keeping with other years, Willie wasn’t really keen on me riding this weekend, and when Lareena won it took a bit of pressure off everybody, so I’m sitting out the remainder of the week.

I didn’t object when Willie suggested he might let Paul ride the horses this weekend, but it was lovely to return with a winner, to get that adrenaline rush from it. It felt as good as ever. I love the competitiveness of it, and I suppose it probably puts some people’s minds at ease regarding my well-being, more than anything else.

I don’t know if a few extra rides this weekend was going to make any difference to my fitness – I am where I am now. It was always risk versus reward, and we weren’t going to take any more risks.