Sly Man's Jockeys Taking Aim — Monday 24 August 2026
The riders I'm watching today — the loaded books, the marquee bookings, the form jocks pinging the radar.
Five riders worth watching today. A loaded book is a market signal in itself — when a form jock has multiple chances, the yard sees the day as live. I read the diaries with one eye on the silks, one on the trainer form. Here's what's caught my eye.
⚡ Billy Loughnane is running hot right now — eight winners in seven days is not a purple patch, it's a statement. He gets on I Am Royal (SR 146) in the 15:00, and with a 19% career strike rate underpinning the confidence, that's the ride you mark first on your card.
- 8 winners in the last 7 days
- 19% career strike rate (1779 rides)
- On I Am Royal (SR 146) in the 15:00
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14:30
Nogo's Dream T: Richard Hughes10/3 6th
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15:00
I Am Royal T: Richard Hughes5/1 🥉 3rd
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15:30
Blue Anthem T: Gerard O'Leary5/4 🥉 3rd
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16:00
It's Life T: Kathy Turner9/2 5th
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16:30
River Wharfe T: Tony Carroll5/2 4th
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17:00
Kondratiev Wave T: Tony Carroll9/2 🥉 3rd
Oisin Murphy
⚡ Oisin Murphy is running hot right now — five winners in the last seven days from a man who already converts at 21% across 1,351 career rides is the kind of double signal you don't walk past. Get him onside in the 17:48, where Nakila Sun's speed rating of 159 makes this the ride of his afternoon.
- 5 winners in the last 7 days
- 21% career strike rate (1351 rides)
- On Nakila Sun (SR 159) in the 17:48
- 17:48 Nakila Sun 13/8 🏆 WON
- 18:18 Cape Fear 15/8 🏆 WON
- 18:48 Berkshire Boom 10/3 🥉 3rd
Hector Crouch
⚡ Hector Crouch has banged in three winners inside the last seven days and walks into today with that momentum still hot under his boots. The one to follow is the 17:13 — Queen Of Hope carries a speed rating of 143 and an 18% career striker doesn't get on a horse like that by accident.
- 3 winners in the last 7 days
- 18% career strike rate (829 rides)
- On Queen Of Hope (SR 143) in the 17:13
- 17:13 Queen Of Hope 12/1 5th
- 17:48 Biscaysian 22/1 4th
- 19:18 Koffee And Kale 5/1 4th
Tom Marquand
⚡ Tom Marquand is coming into today on the back of a red-hot seven days — three winners in the last week tells you the eye is in and the hands are working. Five rides across the card is a workload worth tracking, but it's the 17:13 and Encore at SR 153 that makes this a column entry rather than just a footnote.
- 3 winners in the last 7 days
- On Encore (SR 153) in the 17:13
- 5 rides across the card
- 17:13 Encore 15/8 🥈 2nd
- 17:48 Regalism 10/1 6th
- 18:48 Buckland Belle 11/10 🥈 2nd
- 19:18 Star Obsession 7/2 8th
- 19:48 Dragon God 5/1 🥉 3rd
Jason Hart
⚡ Jason Hart arrives with his boots warm — two winners in the past seven days and a five-ride book that says connections are taking him seriously today. The one to watch is the 14:15, where he climbs aboard The Mean Fiddler on a Speed Rating of 92, and that number does not lie.
- 2 winners in the last 7 days
- On The Mean Fiddler (SR 92) in the 14:15
- 5 rides across the card
- 14:15 The Mean Fiddler 4/11 🏆 WON
- 14:45 Rule Of The Agency 18/1 7th
- 15:15 Runninsonofagun 4/1 🏆 WON
- 15:45 Blakefell 5/2 🥈 2nd
- 16:45 Elizabeth Bay 28/1 12th