Royal Ascot is the main target in the mind of Harry Davies, who is 7-4 favorite (Sky Bet) to end the season as champion apprentice. He gave Benoit de la Sayette a good battle for the title last year and has the advantage over that rival of having more of his claim left for this season, but we're in a bit of a phony war period just now, with the heat of the action likely to take place through high summer.
"I've saved my claim, so far, for Royal Ascot," Davies told the Racing Post Front Runner. "I'm trying to get there with three pounds, use that, and then once my claim's gone, see how it goes. I'd love to ride more winners than I did last year and get some big-race successes under my belt."
Now an 18-year-old, Davies has 74 wins to his name, an impressive tally considering he hadn't ridden in a race before January last year. He can ride another 21 winners before his three-pound claim is taken off him.
De La Sayette, on the other hand, has ridden 90 winners. He's got just five winners left before he has to compete for rides on level terms with Ryan Moore, Oisin Murphy, Tom Marquand, and everyone else.
It makes sense to ensure Davies can still take off that valuable three pounds during the Royal meeting, which might make the difference between winning and being placed. More likely, it might make the difference between being booked and watching from the weighing room.
But I don't think he needs to be too careful now, with the great week just over a month away. A dozen winners would count as a really busy and successful month for any jockey, so he can afford to kick on.
One major difference this year is that Davies has a driver's license and is getting a lot more practice behind the wheel than your typical teenager. He's based with Andrew Balding on the border between Hampshire and Berkshire, and, in addition to going racing, he has key supporters in Cheshire and Newmarket. His new car is seeing a lot of action, even though he still uses a driver on days when the journey is especially long.
March 13 brought an important success at Ascot on Double March, trained by Sean Woods. "He's been a big supporter of mine," Davies said. "Last year, he supported me quite a bit and again this year.
"I'm selecting rides to take and he was obviously a big supporter of mine, so I was able to ride for him. He's been putting me up on some lovely horses, so to ride a winner for him Saturday at Ascot was massive. It was great to repay it on quite a nice day with some decent prize money."
The highlight of the year so far was winning the Further Flight, a listed contest at Nottingham, aboard Rajinsky. That involved a prolonged battle with Trueshan, who was eventually held at bay by Davies and his 16-1 mount.
"Rajinsky has helped take me to that next level, he's been massive for me," the jockey said. "We always liked him but he's just started coming into himself now."
Soft ground is what Rajinsky wants and he got it again in the Chester Cup last week, finishing a close fifth. "We didn't get the run around that we might have liked. He just jumped half a stride slow and ended up in midfield.
"Ideally, he needs to be up the front end, where he can go his own pace; he's a big-striding horse. In the middle of the race, they just took a little bit of a pull and half sprinted for home, which probably just caught him for toe a little bit.
"He was seen to full effect at Nottingham. It was a smaller field, we were able to jump out and get him to relax. When he's in behind, he can get lit up a bit, but in front he can find a rhythm and he had a lovely, easy time of it that day. We weren't sure he'd be fit enough but Hugo (Palmer) obviously did a great job with him because he hadn't been able to get him on the grass yet.
"Hugo's going to campaign him for those staying races and hopefully we'll pick a nice one up with him."
Palmer's assistant trainer, Angie Shea, is Davies' mother, so the Cheshire yard ought to be a continuing source of work for the young man.
All in all, he has been kept very busy, even during the winter lull, when he flew out to work and ride in Bahrain. Does he still enjoy the game or is it starting to feel like work?
"Loving it," he said. "Every horse I ride, I try and get the best result I can and try to keep everyone happy."
