Maturing Sheehan remains as competitive as ever - as the locals at the bowls club can testify

Plenty of praise has come Gavin Sheehan's way of late, but former jockey John Rowe threw me a curveball the day after the rider had produced Datsalrightgino to perfection to win Newbury's Coral Gold Cup this month.

"He's a brilliant bowls player too," said Rowe, paying more plaudits to someone on the crest of a wave following 19 winners in November, which was a monthly best.

Sheehan was also in the spotlight last week when he had to sit through a lengthy BHA appeal hearing after raceday stewards at Huntingdon on November 25 banned him for 14 days. They deemed he had not tried hard enough to win a maiden hurdle on Zain Nights, whose trainer Lucy Wadham was more than satisfied with the ride.