Harry Cobden's jockeys' championship nerves quelled after Taunton double but title rival Sean Bowen narrows gap on Thursday

Sean Bowen will be hoping to further narrow the gap between himself and Harry Cobden in the race for the jockeys' championship on Friday after reducing the deficit by one at Perth on Thursday.

Bowen, who rode a double at the Scottish track while Cobden had a solitary winner at Warwick, trails by six going into the final two days but has five mounts at Perth on Friday, three of which are forecast to be sent off favourite.

Cobden, who has six rides at Chepstow, confessed to “getting a bit jittery” about his lead in the jockeys’ championship, which concludes at Sandown on Saturday, before riding two winners at Taunton on Wednesday evening that left him on the cusp of securing his first title.

“I must admit I was getting a bit jittery,” Cobden said during a Great British Racing media conference. “I was quite relaxed about it ten days ago when I was 15 clear, I thought that it would be a miracle for him to bring it back but then I’d barely ridden a winner in the ten days before yesterday. 

“He’s clawed back ten winners in ten days and I said to myself yesterday that I really need to pull my finger out. I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch and it’s very much business as usual until Saturday as Sean is riding out of his skin and could pull anything out. If I could do it I guess it would be a childhood dream and something I’ve always wanted to do.”

• Harry Cobden v Sean Bowen: who holds sway in the race to be champion jockey?  

Bowen had led for much of the season before an injury sustained over Christmas ruled him out for a number of weeks and allowed Cobden to pass him. However, the rider, who has claimed Grade 1s on Not So Sleepy in the rearranged Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown and Strong Leader in the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree, said he would keep going despite the odds being against him.

“The injury wasn’t ideal but I’ve had a great season and so I haven’t got much to complain about,” he said. “There were times when it hurt more than others, but it’s just racing and hopefully I’ll be back stronger next season.

“It's [the title] not impossible, but it was made harder by Harry having those two winners yesterday, but there’s no point stopping fighting now.”

Cobden’s main supporter Paul Nicholls said his stable number one was in pole position to be champion jockey and that enabling him to do so had become his primary focus as the trainers’ title began to slip out of his grasp.

Nicholls said: “He’s in the driving seat. Hopefully we can keep him where he is and it’s thoroughly deserved. He’s improved enormously as a jockey but that’s experience and it’s a massive thing to have. He’s a complete jockey now and he’s one of the best riders out there. 

“Sean’s also a very good young jockey and he'll be champion one day and he deserves that. I’ve been focusing as much as I can on getting Harry to be champion jockey and it’s good for racing that it’s come down to the last day.”

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