'It's certainly not over yet' - Danny Muscutt focused as all-weather title battle hots up

Danny Muscutt is expecting a fight until the end to keep his lead over Kevin Stott in the all-weather jockeys' championship and hopes he has advertised his ability to take on bigger races on turf this year.

Muscutt enjoyed a memorable 2022, having rode his first Group winner on Deauville Legend in the summer and enjoyed success at the top level aboard Dubai Mile in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud in October.

His momentum has carried on as he tops the All-Weather Championship standings heading towards the final day on Friday with a tally of 71 winners, three ahead of Stott.

Muscutt said: "It's certainly not over yet. Kevin would be an equally worthy winner and he's done exceptionally well. 

"I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to it until the last three or four weeks. I went where I could get rides and thankfully ended on some that were able to win and wrapped up a few sequences.

"My main pool of trainers I ride for were quiet in the early stages of the all-weather, as they usually are, but I had decent support from smaller contacts, which kept me ticking over. I picked up a bit of momentum in late January, which continued all the way through February."

Danny Muscutt: enjoyed a breakthrough year on Deauville LegendCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Oddly, the two jockeys will not ride against each other for the remainder of the season. Muscutt headed to Kempton for four rides on Wednesday, while Stott was in action at Wolverhampton. 

Muscutt is booked for Southwell on Thursday before ending the campaign at Lingfield, while Stott goes to Chelmsford and Newcastle. Sky Bet make Muscutt a 1-3 chance to win the championship, with Stott 9-4.

Regardless of the outcome, Muscutt hopes the additional attention will help him capitalise on his breakthrough year with more opportunities in the season's key races.

"Riding winners never does you any harm and people will take plenty of notice of that," he added. 

"Of course, I'll have those horses I did well on last year and I'd hope that I can get a few more opportunities of that calibre off the back of the all-weather. I'm really grateful of all the trainers for supporting me, especially as I hadn't ridden a huge amount for some of them before. I'll keep kicking on and hopefully get over the line."

Read this next:

265 horses left without a run on Bath's richest ever raceday on Good Friday due to mammoth declarations 

Arc pinning hopes on £1.6m prize-money boosting crowds and fields at Good Friday meetings  

Tom Segal and Paul Kealy had 10-1 and 9-1 Saturday winners - get their tips and much more with 50% off Members' Club Ultimate Monthly 

Do you want £200+ of free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.