Would Silvestre De Sousa’s absence for the Melbourne Cup give further edge to Paul Hanagan for the jockeys’ title race?
Even though Silvestre De Sousa will be away for a day to ride Fox Hunt in the Melbourne Cup he is still adamant to keep the jockeys’ title race with Paul Hanagan on the go. De Sousa will only miss one day of British racing.
Silvestre De Sousa will ride at Newmarket on Saturday and has the flight to Australia due the same night. On Sunday there are no flat races in Britain and as far as Monday is concerned, Silvestre De Sousa himself is suspended that day.
"The only day he'll miss is Tuesday as he'll ride in the Melbourne Cup and fly home and be back in the UK on Wednesday morning. Hopefully, he'll then be riding at Nottingham on Wednesday afternoon and Kempton in the evening”.
It will be after a gap of three days that Silvestre De Sousa will be back to continue waging the jockeys’ title race with Paul Hanagan. De Sousa did enjoy races at Lingfield and Kempton that provided him with bright prospects of winning in numerous races
before he leaves for the Melbourne Cup.
He raced Kinloch Castle in Lingfield’s British Stallion Studs Supporting British Racing Maiden Stakes with also the opportunity of riding Medal Of Valour, under charge Johnston at the Ride Sierra Nevada For Marie Curie Handicap.
At Kempton, Silvestre De Sousa got the chance of riding Master Of Disguise in the Claiming Stakes and yet again from the stable of Johnston, De Sousa rode Fascinating for the Enhanced SP’s At bluesq.com Handicap.
On the other hand, Paul Hanagan had a chance with The Shrew at Lingfield’s Normandie Stud Fleur de Lys Fillies’ Stakes. Even Kempton welcomed Paul Hanagan, who was riding with Cheherazad in the Blue Square MINI Roulette Handicap.
Paul Hanagan till yet has had 157 wins out of 1081 runs while Silvestre De Sousa has won 154 races out of 966 starts. The third in line for the jockeys’ title race is Kieren Fallon who has raced 895 times out of which he has won 144.
The confidence that De Sousa has in his ability even when he is aware of missing one day’s racing in Britain is commendable. He just does not want to let the opportunity pass out without fighting for it.
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