Horse racing: Hanagan closing in on crown

PAUL Hanagan took another step towards being crowned champion jockey for a second successive season with a double at Redcar yesterday.

With less than a fortnight of the turf season remaining, Hanagan took his tally for the campaign to 156, leaving him nine winners clear of Silvestre de Sousa and 13 ahead of six-times champion Kieren Fallon.

Fallon took five rides on the same Redcar card, but was unable to find the target.

Hanagan got off the mark for the afternoon by guiding 11-2 shot Future Security to a narrow victory in the EBF – Double Trigger Maiden Stakes.

Fallon donned the Godolphin first colours on Mahmood Al Zarooni’s Zaeem and looked like collecting heading into the final furlong. But Hanagan brought the Saeed bin Suroor-trained apparent second-string Future Security with a late challenge to get up by a neck.

Hanagan then delighted favourite-backers when bringing 7-2 shot Body Language home in front in the Market Cross Jewellers Handicap.

“It’s been a bit of a long haul, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot more this year,” Hanagan said. “I can’t sit back on my laurels. Kieren has been riding absolutely brilliantly and he’s a guy I really look up to. Silvestre also keeps pulling these four-timers out of the bag. To have a four-timer at York [earlier this month] was unreal.

“You can’t drop your guard and I just do what I keep doing and keep my head down.”

Jockey Patrick Mathers fell foul of the controversial whip rules, receiving a seven-day suspension (9-12 November and 14-16 November) for using his whip with excessive frequency when scoring on 8-1 chance Valantino Oyster in the Subscribe To Racing UK Selling Stakes.

The whip saga rumbles on, with the British Horseracing Authority saying yesterday that it was “committed to ongoing and constructive dialogue” with the Professional Jockeys Association.

The PJA believes any strike action by jockeys would be counterproductive – a stance which has been mirrored by the BHA.

“We are committed to our own constant monitoring of the situation regarding the adjusted whip rules, and are pleased that the majority of jockeys are adhering to them,” said a BHA spokesman. “We urge that they continue to do so in a professional manner.”