Jonjo a pleasure to deal with

The action on the fourth day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival was underwhelming to say the least - the Pattern races didn't set the pulse racing. Regular readers of Ahead On The Flat will be aware that Orbaan featured in the Top 40 Prospects in 2020 and the ex-French gelding won at York in July that year at odds of 25/1. David O'Meara's charge record his first win since - 25 races later - in the Golden Mile Handicap powering clear inside the final furlong under Jason Watson to scoring by over three lengths. Needless to say, I didn't back the 20/1 shot. Ironically, the runner-up and stablemate Blue For You (15/2) is featured in the Significant Sales section of this year's AOTF.

At lunchtime on Friday, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jonjo O'Neill jnr for One Jump Ahead. The former champion conditional jockey was on his way to Bangor and he kindly ran through over 60 of his father's horses and his thoughts for the season ahead. Jackdaws Castle has been swelled with some exciting additions from Ireland, including a raft of expensive point-to-pointers. A class act in and out of the saddle, Jonjo couldn't have been more accommodating.

I am heading back to Hamilton Park for their ladies day meeting on Saturday evening. I will therefore update the Diary early next week once I have arranged some more interviews for OJA.