The hottest jockey in the country right now has just ridden out his 5lb claim

The Front Runner is Chris Cook's morning email exclusively for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers, available here as a free sample.

In Monday's email Chris reflects on the form of conditional jockey Theo Gillard – and subscribers can get more great insight, tips and racing chat from Chris every Monday to Friday.

Members' Club Ultimate subscribers who aren't yet signed up for The Front Runner should head to the My Account area and under Email Communication opt into 'All members-club only emails' to start receiving The Front Runner and more great exclusive email content!

Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content, including tipping from the likes of Pricewise and Paul Kealy, all the big interviews and features, daily comment and news analysis.

The hottest jockey in the country right now has just lost his 5lb claim. The 23-year-old Theo Gillard is having a breakthrough season, with more winners this term than in the previous seven combined, and is currently on a hot streak of five wins from seven rides.

That sometimes happens to jockeys working for in-form yards and there's no doubt that Gillard is benefiting from being attached to the Donald McCain stable that has been flying along for months. But their current run is the more impressive because those five winners were not hot favourites with everything in their favour. They were returned at 16-1, 12-1, 10-1, 10-1 again and 7-1.

"I'm delighted with how things are going," Gillard tells the Front Runner. "The way the horses are running, it's a lot easier to ride winners. Last season was probably my first real season, properly, if you like. This season, touch wood, I've stayed injury-free, and everything seems to be snowballing."

Eight winners (from 27 rides) since New Year's Day make this easily the best month of Gillard's young career – although he was out of luck aboard Maninsane, his only ride of the day, in the opening race at Hereford on Monday.

All this success matters, not just because it vindicates the young man's lifelong commitment to a career in the saddle. ("I've always wanted to be a jockey. If I had to give up tomorrow, I'd have no idea what I wanted to do.") It also means that, for the first time, Gillard holds bragging rights over his younger brother, 19-year-old Fergus, based 200 miles away with David Pipe.

"He had a really good first couple of seasons riding," says older brother. "It's been a bit steadier this season."

So there's some competition between the two of you? "He says there isn't at the minute," Gillard responds wryly, "but I'm sure there probably is." Apparently, there was plenty made of how things were going last season, when the boot was on the other foot. "He's a really good rider. Yeah, you'd be happy for each other but there's a bit of competition there as well because that's brotherly love, isn't it?

"We're both quite tall and a lot of people say we ride similar. Obviously, I'm based in the north, he's based in the south, that's the only difference we have.

"He's probably a lot more well spoken than me, better at interviews and that sort of thing." How did that happen? "I don't really know, I'm a bit of a black sheep, to be honest. I came up north when I was 16 and I've sort of evolved into what I am from being up here this long."

Mark Gillard: the Gillard brothers grew up at the Dorset base of their trainer-father MarkCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

The pair grew up at the Dorset base of their father Mark Gillard, who has supplied both with occasional winners. "Us kids shared a pony, growing up, and then we got a racing pony and shared him as well. I was no good at school and as soon as I finished there, I came straight up to Donald, because I knew the McCains through pony racing."

Gillard must surely be among the tallest of jockeys at 6'3 and the Front Runner is, amazingly enough, not the first to suggest that the basketball court might have been a better choice. He reports that he has his weight under control but is nonetheless directly impacted by the planned end to the 3lb allowance which has provoked such controversy.

"With the allowance, you're going to the races in a better frame of mind, you're not wasting all the time," he says. Until Covid times came along, he had a pretty serious sauna habit.

"It was daft, really. You'd get in the saunas some days, even if you had top weight, just because you were in the habit of getting in it every day."

Life will be "dead tough" with no 3lb allowance and no saunas at the track. On the other hand, his claim is about to be reduced from 5lb to 3lb, a competitive disadvantage but at least it will be easier for him to do the weight.

"It's going to be difficult if I'm going to have to raise my [minimum] weight or I'm going to have to start wasting loads again. I don't know if they're revising the decision about the allowance but I'd like it if they did and I know plenty of other lads who would too."

One story you must read today

'I never wanted to be a trainer...' – a fascinating interview with Nigel Twiston-Davies, 40 years after his first winner

Read these next:

What's on this week: Honeysuckle heads superstar cast at the Dublin Racing Festival

'The rocky road to Cheltenham' – why ante-post bettors are the week's losers

The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday