Sly Man's Jockeys Taking Aim — Monday 9 November 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.
⚡ Harry Skelton is running at a temperature right now — 10 winners in seven days is not a purple patch, it's a full-blown siege — and a 27% career strike rate over 1,776 rides tells you this isn't noise. Get him onside in the 14:15 when he climbs aboard Lune Brillante, a horse carrying a speed rating of 162 that the front pages somehow haven't made the centrepiece of their day.
- 10 winners in the last 7 days
- 27% career strike rate (1776 rides)
- On Lune Brillante (SR 162) in the 14:15
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12:40
Emid'io Pepe T: Dan Skelton8/15 Race at 12:40
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13:10
Eastern Fire T: Dan Skelton4/11 Race at 13:10
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13:40
Major Fortune T: Dan Skelton5/2 Race at 13:40
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14:15
Lune Brillante T: Dan Skelton11/10 Race at 14:15
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14:50
Service Minimum T: Dan Skelton4/1 Race at 14:50
Sean Bowen
⚡ Sean Bowen is in the form of his life right now — six winners in seven days is not a purple patch, it's a full-blown siege. He saddles only three today but Act of Authority at 12:40 carries a speed rating of 134, and a rider running at 24% career strike rate does not waste that kind of mount.
- 6 winners in the last 7 days
- 24% career strike rate (2505 rides)
- On Act of Authority (SR 134) in the 12:40
- 12:40 Act of Authority 11/8 Race at 12:40
- 13:40 Sunshine Diamond 2/1 Race at 13:40
- 15:55 Apollon Forlonge 2/1 Race at 15:55
Gavin Sheehan
⚡ Gavin Sheehan has fired in five winners over the last seven days and walks into today with just two rides — meaning his attention isn't spread thin. The 15:35 booking on Lady Jetfire, rated 163, is the one to follow: a 23% career strike rate tells you Sheehan doesn't waste good horses.
- 5 winners in the last 7 days
- 23% career strike rate (1357 rides)
- On Lady Jetfire (SR 163) in the 15:35
- 14:27 Mr Caulfield 12/1 Race at 14:27
- 15:35 Lady Jetfire 11/10 Race at 15:35
Sam Twiston-Davies
⚡ Sam Twiston-Davies is running hot with six winners in the last seven days, and connections haven't wasted that form by sitting him on a donkey — Locker Boum's speed rating of 149 in the 14:15 is the standout booking of the afternoon. With an 18% career strike rate across 1,093 rides and a pilot who currently can't miss, this is the ride you circle first and argue about later.
- 6 winners in the last 7 days
- 18% career strike rate (1093 rides)
- On Locker Boum (SR 149) in the 14:15
- 13:40 Lord of Cheshire 8/1 Race at 13:40
- 14:15 Locker Boum 3/1 Race at 14:15
Jonjo O'Neill Jr.
⚡ Jonjo O'Neill Jr. has 29% at Carlisle from 21 visits — that's not a fluke, that's a rider who reads this track — and he's arriving in form with two winners in the last seven days. Blue Sweeper at 12:20 carries a speed rating of 139, and with O'Neill Jr. in the saddle on a course where he genuinely thrives, this is the booking the front page walked straight past.
- 2 winners in the last 7 days
- On Blue Sweeper (SR 139) in the 12:20
- 29% strike rate at Carlisle (6 from 21)
- 12:20 Blue Sweeper 12/1 Race at 12:20
- 13:20 Diamond White 2/1 Race at 13:20
- 13:52 All The Glory 20/1 Race at 13:52
- 14:27 Circuit Breaker 9/1 Race at 14:27
- 15:02 Oh Clare 5/1 Race at 15:02