Interview with Sam Thomas

Continuing the Welsh theme in the new edition of One Jump Ahead, I am delighted to include an interview with Sam Thomas. The Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey has made a big impression amongst the training ranks in recent seasons. Last winter, the South Glamorgan based handler sent out 23 winners from only 87 runners operating at an impressive strike-rate of 26%. Leading novice chaser Steel Ally won two Grade 2 events, while Celtic Dino won the Welsh Champion Hurdle for his proud owner Dai Walters. An already quality team of horses has been added to by a tremendously exciting bunch of unraced youngsters. I spoke to Sam on Monday afternoon and he kindly went through his string, including a dozen unraced bumper horses for the winter ahead. There are some terrific prospects amongst them, including the trainer's horse to follow for the season. I am sure subscribers will find it an interesting and profitable interview.

I am working at Catterick on Tuesday and will therefore conduct more interviews later in the week before heading to Haydock Park for their two day fixture on Friday and Saturday. It promises to be a busy and enjoyable week. I will be back to update the Diary shortly.