There’s life in the old man yet, and no, I wasn’t referring to Andrew Thornton (cough) who rode his 1005th winner aboard Somchine at Wincanton on Wednesday. Chine had been a little dissapointing this term but it turns out all he needed is a little spring sunshine coupled with some very testing Somerset ground to pull a decisive 3 lengths clear to win the “Smarkets handicap chase”. The step up from Chines usual 2miles seems to have benefited him also, he has relaxed and matured to a stage were he now appreciates a longer trip

Andrew’s batch of recent winners have pushed his total one more place up the all time jumps jockeys tally, just above his long time friend and competitor Peter Niven who retired on 1002 winners.