Seven winners from his last 15 rides: meet the claimer who's the hottest jump jockey of recent weeks
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Dylan Johnston has been the name to know for jumps fans since the quality of action was ramped up at Chepstow the weekend before last. The jockey, who is somehow still allowed to steal 3lb off the backs of his mounts, has ridden seven winners from his 15 rides over the past fortnight, including victory in the Welsh Champion Hurdle aboard Lump Sum, one of the two most important successes in his young career.
The other would be the Swinton at Haydock in May. You might remember the bold, front-running ride Johnston gave the Olly Murphy-trained Pickanumber, who beat 16 rivals by 15 lengths and was then sold to race in the US.
That was the highlight of 19 wins last season for the 23-year-old but arguably a more important ride came in defeat, when he was booked to ride Iwilldoit in the Welsh Grand National last December. Cardiff trainer Sam Thomas was clearly keen to take some weight off the back of his horse, who had won the race two years before, and Johnston's 7lb claim made him the right choice.
A gruelling, big-field handicap chase is a tricky assignment for an inexperienced rider but Johnston coped well, steering the ten-year-old into third place behind runaway winner Nassalam. It turns out to have been the start of something, as Johnston was signed up in July to be first jockey for owner Dai Walters, Thomas's main backer.
It meant that Johnston was not just becoming an important part of Thomas's yard but also that of Bath-based Neil Mulholland, where Walters also has horses. "I went in there with the feeling that I was going to ride Mr Walters' horses and anything else was a bonus but we've got on really well," Johnston says of that connection.
So far, Johnston and Mulholland have enjoyed six winners from 18 runners together in British jump racing and they were also winning in Jersey this summer. Thomas kept his powder dry until Chepstow time, since when he and Johnston have been similarly effective.
"It's amazing," Johnston says of his recent strong run. "I think I'm eight winners ahead of where I was this time last year."
His first ride for Thomas this season was Palacio, a 20-1 shot in a novice hurdle on the Friday of Chepstow's meeting. They went off in front and stayed there.
"At home, he can tear off a bit," Johnston says of the six-year-old, who was making his hurdles debut. "The more you try and take him back, the worse time you'll both have. He'll want to go and win under a penalty before we get carried away but he was good."
Lump Sum followed two days later. Last week, Celtic Dino hacked up in a maiden hurdle at Wincanton and is already reckoned by some to be a likely type for the Betfair Hurdle.
"It's a nice place and full of nice horses," Johnston says of Thomas's yard, where he's involved most mornings. "We've run quite a few over the last ten days and there's a few more to run over the next ten days."
The Front Runner has always imagined that young jockeys feel a little extra pressure when riding for a trainer who was previously successful in the saddle. Thomas, as readers will readily recall, won a Cheltenham Gold Cup and a Hennessy aboard the mighty Denman and his other big moments included a Betfair Chase on Kauto Star, a Tingle Creek on Twist Magic and a Becher Chase on Mr Pointment.
It's an impressive list and Johnston is fully aware of it. Introduced to the game by his grandfather, he was an eight-year-old fanatic in the stands at Leopardstown when Thomas won the Lexus Chase on What A Friend. It's a memory he shared with the trainer recently.
"He'll know if you've done something wrong. Before I say, I should have done this or that, he'll say it.
"It's good, though. Over the first couple of weekends, he was well aware that I'm riding a for a new setup." There were a couple of occasions when Thomas would have preferred Johnston to have ridden in a slightly different manner and the pair talked it through.
"It was always going to happen but I'm glad there were one or two horses over the first weekend where we got that done early."
So the future looks bright for that combination and their runners are going to require consideration in the weeks to come. More immediately, Johnston rides for Mulholland today at Plumpton, aboard Man Of The Sea in a 2m handicap hurdle (4.25).
Incredibly, Johnston remembers this horse from seven years ago, when he was learning his craft at RACE, the racing school on the Curragh, and had been sent to Ken Condon's yard for work experience. Man Of The Sea was a yearling there. "I remember I used to ride him every day because he was one of the quieter ones."
Mulholland raced Man Of The Sea in Jersey this summer and Johnston won a 1m4f handicap on him. "It was only when I looked at what I was riding, I thought: 'I know that name...'"
Man Of The Sea is the general 9-2 second-favourite for today's race. Jockey form is certainly a point in his favour.
Who Am I?
Today's clue:
"The Hong Kong Mile offers a lot of prestige and prize-money, so there are definitely worse races in which to bow out. It really looked like it had been my last race, in defeat 6,000 miles from home. Hours later, news got out that in fact the sport would be seeing plenty more of me and I have to be thankful. There are good days and bad days for everyone in this game but it's what I love."
It's the start of a new week in our 'Who Am I?' quiz, based around a different racing personality each week. We'll give you a new clue every day, with the answer revealed on Friday.
Think you know who it is? Email frontrunner@racingpost.com to say who. I'll give a mention to everyone who gets it right.
Congratulations to Ian Noble, who took just seven minutes to supply last week's correct answer, Tom Queally, whose attempt to win a fourth Champion Stakes was frustrated when Novus became a late non-runner on Saturday.
Three things to look out for today
1. Runners from Britain make up more than half the 12-strong field for a Listed two-year-old race at Deauville. The Criterium de Vitesse (1.30) is a turf sprint and is expected to take place on a testing surface. That'll hold no terrors for the Adrian Keatley-trained Francisco's Piece, runner-up in Redcar's Two-Year-Old Trophy when last seen. Karl Burke, George Boughey, Alice Haynes and Amy Murphy are also represented in a race Boughey won with Proverb two years ago. There are also British runners later on the card in the Prix des Reservoirs (3.53) and the Prix Vulcain (5.03).
2. There's a couple of last-time eyecatchers out today. King's Code is ready to win again after a late summer break, judging by his running-on fifth at Kempton last time. He'll have the same capable claimer aboard when he tries a 1m2f handicap at Bath (4.40). Moments later, in a 7f handicap at Wolverhampton (4.50), So Quiet is sure to be fancied after a running-on fourth at Kempton last month when he was stopped in his run at a vital moment. That was only a second handicap outing for Harry Charlton's three-year-old and his first after a three-month break. The third, sixth and eighth from the Kempton race won next time.
3. Few trainers are hotter just now than Harry Derham, who has had five winners from his last dozen runners. His O'Grady's Hill might be backable for a 3m1f handicap hurdle at Plumpton (5.30), having been beaten a long way into sixth on her handicap debut a fortnight ago. It might be worth forgetting that effort. She raced keenly on that first start in three months and was allowed to join the leader with almost a circuit to go by a pilot having a quiet spell. Perhaps it wasn't the biggest surprise when she ran out of gas but she'll be sharper this time and Derham's principal jockey, Paul O'Brien, takes over in the saddle.
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