Ben Jones Saturday rides blog: 'He's probably my best chance of the day'

• Last Round - Sandown - 1.45 race odds

• Henry's Friend - Sandown - 3.30 race odds

• French Ship - Sandown - 4.02 race odds

Sandown

1.45 - Last Round

I start Saturday at Sandown with Last Round in the Novices' Championship Final, and this is a lovely horse who is probably better than his mark is suggesting at this present time. He's progressed with each run, and I really liked him in his last run at Fontwell, where Callum [Pritchard] rode him. He settled nicely there, jumped brilliantly, and galloped strongly to the line, beating a nice horse of Dan Skelton's in the process. 

Look, he's obviously going to have to step up in grade, and what not, but we've seen him finish strongly on a hill climb before, so Sandown shouldn't be a problem on that front. It's just whether he's good enough against this kind of opposition. Hopefully he is... he's probably my best chance of the day.

3.30 - Henry's Friend

Henry's Friend will love the fact that there's not a massive field in the bet365 Gold Cup. Obviously the ground drying out has scared a few off. He seems in good order though, he's been kept fresh, I schooled him this morning and he was A1, so if he gets in a good rhythm, I think we'll be bang there. I don't have any problem with the track for him, it's just whether he's quick enough to get into a good rhythm early doors, but with it being a small field, that should help him. 

4.02 - French Ship

I finish with French Ship in the Select Hurdle, and the only other time I've sat on him, I won down at Cheltenham. It was a decent race that day, but he felt like a really nice horse. Looking at his form of late, there's definitely been a drop off and he's lost his way, but there's been excuses; the ground has been too soft, he was tried over three miles which didn't work, he ran in the Lanzarote and never really got into it. He's had excuses, and this is a decent race on Saturday, but I think he'll like the ground, the track, and the trip will be up his street. He's got to put his recent form to one side, and if he was to run like he did at Newbury last November, then we might nick a bit of money here.

So when I walked back in [after the Grand National], I literally couldn't have been happier. I thought it was a brilliant run, I was delighted. I jumped the last in front, and from there thought 'whatever happens, he's done well'. Paul Townend coming past me was obviously sickening, but it was the right horse coming past me, at the end of the day. He'd won it a couple of years ago, was second last year and favourite to win this year... I wasn't distraught about it.

I thought we ran a belter and I thoroughly enjoyed myself... I got a brilliant start with him over the first three or four, then got hampered by a horse that fell in front of me, and that meant I just had to hang him back a little. To be honest, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to us, because we were just focused on the jumps in front of us. I switched him out after the Canal Turn and he just took off and jumped brilliantly. I couldn't have asked for a better partner in that respect.

I was buzzing when I got back in, the owners were delighted and Joseph [O'Brien] was sound. So from pulling up at the end of the race, talking to the lads, making my way back in and walking up the steps, I was feeling great. Then I watched the replay, and I don't think there was a sicker person than me at Aintree. Obviously there were a few loose horses around me, and as we're turning for home, for whatever reason, when a couple of loose horses got in front of us, I just thought it was them [chasing pack]. I genuinely thought there were horses on my tail turning for home, but having watched the replay, we were six or seven furlongs clear.

If I could have a re-run, you know, I'd do things a lot differently. Like I say, at the time I was delighted, but having watched the replay, and looked at how the race developed, it was completely different to the way it felt at the time, which I was annoyed about. Genuinely, driving home, I was sick in the stomach all the way. There was no other feeling. You know, you don't get many chances in the national, and all I was thinking was that was my chance and I threw it away. You always wonder what you could have done differently when you don't win a race, but with it being the national, it obviously hurt a little bit more.

There's loads of ways of looking at it, you know, there are pundits out there who have said that's probably the best place it could have finished. There's a lot of other people saying that it should have won. If I was fifth turning for home, and I stayed on to finish third, it would have been an unbelievable run and everyone would have been delighted. But because it was the other way around, there's always going to be what-ifs. You're always going to get different opinions, but Joseph's was the best. He said it was a brilliant ride, and if it would have won, it would have been an unbelievable ride. 

You're always sick when you get beat, and obviously that race is massive. Then I went to Ffos Las and reached 100 winners for the season... I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. I then had a week off which was a luxury for me in the end, really. Luckily, the lads around me weren't riding too many winners either, so I didn't miss a whole lot while I was away. That week off was brilliant for me; I was able to spend it with the family and just chill out, putting together a garden shed, which was what I needed.

Look, that's just how horse racing is sometimes. Joseph was as sound as he could be with me, and he's got a nice one to look forward to next year. For me, it was just a bit of a kick in the teeth in the end, but I've got to see it as a brilliant learning curve, a wonderful experience, and it just means I'll have to give it another go in the next few years. 

Harry Cobden match bet

Thursday was a solid enough day - I got another winner which takes me to 101 for the season. I've got a match bet with Harry Cobden, so I'm one ahead of him now, so it's alright. Obviously I was banned last week, and all I was thinking about was that match bet... he only had one winner that week, though, so I got off lightly. We said it'd be a tenner for every winner the loser was behind, so if he's 10 wins off me, that'd be £100... we obviously didn't think it was going to be this tight, so now it's just about the principle and pride! And if I do beat him, I can say I gave him an extra week as well...

Dan Skelton's great season

It's just phenomenal what Dan [Skelton] and his team have done. Obviously he can train... that's pretty clear, but his biggest asset is his race planning, and his determination. You know, he has a plan in place for each and every horse - it doesn't matter how big the stable is - it'd be scary to see the number of horses that are coming and going throughout the year. Every horse is rising their game under him - it's just not normal, some of the stuff he's doing.

He's £50k off £5m in prize money at the time of writing, which is just crazy, so hopefully he can reach that milestone. I think you'd be looking at backing any of his horses over the next couple of days, with that target in mind for him! Obviously it's incredible what Dan has done, but he must have an incredible team behind him that are as determined as he is, you know. It's a massive team effort, and it's tremendous, really. You know, his target for the season was £4m, and he's surpassed it by another million...

What's brilliant with him and Harry [Skelton] is that winning isn't enough; they've got so many little targets, like the record they've just set of winning at every track this season. As soon as they knew that was on the cards, they went and did it. Obviously the ammunition they're firing is very, very strong, but it's all the little stuff that comes with it as well.

If he's going to try and beat the record number of winners by a trainer in a season next year, I can tell you now there's going to be a very nervous Sean Bowen walking around for a few months! I'd say he's already got plans for his summer squad, and he's always known for having a strong squad at this time of the year... I wouldn't be afraid in saying next season is probably going to be even bigger and better for him. 

End of the season

Of course, we're now at the end of the season, which means everything resets to zero ahead of next season, prize money, winners... some lads love it (the fresh start) but I absolutely hate it, to be honest. I hate it. Obviously we've worked hard, and it's been a tremendous year, but after this weekend we're back to square one, and a week on Saturday, when a load of the lads will be at Uttoxeter, for now it looks like I'm going to be in Punchestown, and deep down that's killing me because I know those other lads are getting on the scoreboard. And as soon as you get on the scoreboard, your nerves start to settle down a little bit. 

For that first month of the new season, everyone's a bit on pins - if you get a couple of winners under your belt, you're OK, but if you're chasing a winner for a while, that's where you could start having problems.

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