Sly Man's Jockeys Taking Aim — Wednesday 23 September 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 has dragged nine winners out of the last seven days and the booking teams have noticed — seven rides across today's card is not a coincidence. An 18% career strike rate over 3031 rides tells you this is no flash in the pan, and he arrives today with the kind of momentum that makes a heavy book look like a gift.
- 9 winners in the last 7 days
- 7 rides across the card
- 18% career strike rate (3031 rides)
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16:20
Kodiac City T: Richard Hughes4/6 🥉 3rd
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17:30
Protectrix T: John Butler9/4 🏆 WON
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18:00
Duchess of Immatin T: George Boughey4/1 🏆 WON
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19:00
Chapman's Peak T: Ed Dunlop9/1 13th
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19:30
Manly Fireball T: Richard Hughes15/2 9th
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20:00
Joseph T: John Butler7/1 🥉 3rd
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20:30
Arundel T: Ed Dunlop10/3 🏆 WON
Paul Townend
⚡ Paul Townend arrives at today's card mid-streak — three winners in the last seven days from a man who already converts at 38% across 878 career rides, which is a number that makes most jockeys weep. He's aboard Columbus in the 14:30, a horse carrying a speed rating of 157, and that pairing doesn't land in your lap by accident.
- 3 winners in the last 7 days
- 38% career strike rate (878 rides)
- On Columbus (SR 157) in the 14:30
- 13:55 Love Me Tender 2/5 🏆 WON
- 14:30 Columbus 11/8 Fell
- 15:40 Caher Roes Den 7/2 🥉 3rd
- 16:15 Funiculi Funicula 7/1 Pulled up
- 16:47 La Note Verte 8/11 🏆 WON
Oisin Murphy
⚡ Oisin Murphy is running hot — six winners in the last seven days and a career strike rate of 22% across 2711 rides tells you this isn't a man in a slump. Get on Fastidyah in the 13:30; a speed rating of 153 with Murphy in the plate is the sharpest booking on the card today.
- 6 winners in the last 7 days
- 22% career strike rate (2711 rides)
- On Fastidyah (SR 153) in the 13:30
- 13:30 Fastidyah 3/1 6th
- 14:05 Runman 6/5 🥈 2nd
- 14:40 Storm Star 5/2 🥈 2nd
- 15:15 Respond 11/4 🏆 WON
- 15:50 Flooding 14/1 4th
Jack Kennedy
⚡ Jack Kennedy has done nothing wrong this week — two winners in seven days on top of a career strike rate sitting at a very tidy 23% from 1,202 rides — and the booking that matters is the 16:15, where he partners Nowwhatdoyouthink off a rating of 141. That is a serious horse under a serious jockey, and the layers will know it.
- 23% career strike rate (1202 rides)
- 2 winners in the last 7 days
- On Nowwhatdoyouthink (SR 141) in the 16:15
- 13:55 Euro Agent SP Race at 13:55
- 14:30 Cosmos d'Ainay 10/1 🥉 3rd
- 16:15 Nowwhatdoyouthink 7/2 10th
- 16:47 Emily Love 17/2 5th
Rossa Ryan
⚡ Rossa Ryan is in the kind of red-hot nick you don't ignore — four winners in the last seven days, and he walks into today with five chances to add to that tally. The 13:30 ride on Lauriger catches the eye sharpest, that 133 speed rating putting this one clear of the field on paper, and a jockey running this hot doesn't throw a gift away.
- 4 winners in the last 7 days
- 18% career strike rate (2877 rides)
- On Lauriger (SR 133) in the 13:30
- 13:30 Lauriger 18/1 7th
- 14:40 Gun Carriage 33/1 🥉 3rd
- 15:50 Poppy Foxy 28/1 🏆 WON
- 16:25 Personal Best 10/3 🥉 3rd
- 17:00 Brosay 6/1 🥈 2nd