Got, got, need - Denis O'Regan heads to Hereford with history in his crosshairs

The Front Runner is our morning email exclusively for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers, written today by Chris Cook and available here as a free sample.

Subscribers can get more great insight, tips and racing chat from The Front Runner every Monday to Friday. Those who aren't yet signed up for The Front Runner should click here to sign up and start receiving emails immediately!

Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.

History could be made at Hereford on Wednesday when Denis O'Regan travels over for three rides. The veteran jockey has ridden a winner at every other jumps track in Britain and Ireland and believes he would be the first to complete the set.

This seemed surprising to me but a bit of checking suggests that he's right. To be clear, the surprising bit is not that he's about to complete the set because O'Regan has had an excellent career on both sides of the Irish Sea and has had a high profile since Ansar won the Galway Plate 17 years ago.

What's surprising is that the feat has not already been achieved by one of the other riders who have enjoyed such success in both countries in recent years. McCoy, Walsh, Geraghty, they won everywhere at one time or another . . . didn't they?

Apparently not. Sir Anthony McCoy won at every British track, naturally enough, during the two decades when he was the perennial champion and made a virtue of going wherever he and Dave Roberts thought the winners might be.

He had 298 winners at Worcester, for example. Kelso is the only British jumps track still going where he had just a single-figure number of successes. He rode winners at Windsor and Nottingham, which is obviously no longer possible for a jump jockey.

But he didn't spend much time at the lower-profile tracks in Ireland and drew a blank from a handful of rides at Bellewstown, Downpatrick and Wexford.

Ruby Walsh naturally has the full set in Ireland but he's missing a few in Britain. I suppose that reflects the job he had when he was riding here, when he would often spend the early part of each week in Ireland. He never rode at Carlisle, Cartmel, Catterick or Hexham and he never won at Ludlow (a frustrating 0/12), Musselburgh, Newcastle or Southwell.

Barry Geraghty got closer. He also has the full set in Ireland and he got a winner everywhere he rode in Britain, but never made it to Hexham or Sedgefield. Interestingly, he had a perfect record (one ride, one win) at both Cartmel and Catterick. Do any Front Runner readers happen to remember either occasion?

Norman Williamson is the name that O'Regan unexpectedly utters. I remember being a big fan of Williamson, 20-odd years ago, but I had the impression he was a bit like Walsh, focused on the quality action.

In fact, he won at every British course that was staging jump racing at the time, including Nottingham, Windsor and Wolverhampton. He found out what the winner's enclosure looked like at Kelso, Perth and Hexham.

But! He never had the chance to ride at Ffos Las, which opened six years after he stopped.

So O'Regan will be the only one with the full set of current jumps tracks in Britain and Ireland ... unless there's someone else we haven't thought of. If you think we've overlooked someone, do please get in touch via the usual email address (frontrunner@racingpost.com).

Hereford did not exactly play fair with O'Regan, since it closed for the last four years of his time based in Britain. Then, almost as soon as he relocated to Ireland, it reopened!

It was last summer when he realised Hereford was the only track still missing from his list and he came over for a couple of rides supplied by Gordon Elliott in November, but they weren't quite good enough.

Navan-based Cian Collins and Worcestershire's Henry Oliver are the trainers supporting him today. What does he make of his three rides? All are prominent in the betting, with Presenting Doyen the shortest at 2-1.

Denis O'Regan at Listowel in 2018: he heads to Hereford on WednesdayCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"Diegos Way is obviously an older horse. He has plenty of experience but plenty of weight as well. It looks an open sort of race on paper but he'll go on the ground and enjoy the trip and hopefully he's got a good chance," O'Regan tells the Front Runner.

"Presenting Doyen is having her first run over hurdles. She jumps well and I'm looking forward to riding her.

"Skinflint is obviously 11 now and still a maiden under rules but his last run at Hereford would give him a big chance here.

"I'm lucky I can call on a few friends to help me out and hopefully we can get the job done. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I'll just have to keep coming back."

O'Regan is not the man to blow his own trumpet but I sense it would mean a great deal to him if he were able to achieve this particular feat. The Front Runner hopes he gets a bit of luck today.

O'Regan's chances

2.00 Hereford: Diegos Way

Spotlight comment: didn't stay 4m latest but previous Bangor win puts him firmly in the argument

3.00 Hereford: Presenting Doyen

Spotlight comment: runner-up in latest Irish point; form nothing special but hard to rule out on hurdle debut

4.00 Hereford: Skinflint

Spotlight comment: ran well all three starts last winter; wind surgery since; off 11 months but live hopes

Wednesday's picks

Midnight Gold (1.00) is one to be interested in, for the opener at Hereford. This mare had her first four starts over hurdles with a small yard in Ireland and showed next to nothing but there was promise in her first outing for Neil Mulholland at Fontwell in November.

Held up, she was still last and widest of all coming out of the final turn but stayed on doughtily to be third without being harshly treated. It looks like she'll be able to win from her rating of 95 on this side of the Irish Sea, when things fall right.

Softer ground should help her to keep closer tabs on the leaders and Thomasina Eyston is an encouraging booking, the claimer having a 5/15 record for Mulholland this term. The yard is out of form but 14-1 is very fair.

Got No Dollars (8.00) appeals at 9-2 at Kempton tonight, having dropped to within 2lb of his last winning mark. His latest run, over course and distance in mid-November, was his best since the first half of the year, when he won twice and was consistently competitive. Stuart Williams had a fine December and hopefully this one can get his new year off to a good start.

Keith Melrose has two tips for Hereford

Three things to look out for today . . .

1. Venetia Williams has an interesting newcomer from France making her debut in a juvenile maiden hurdle at Hereford. Jikala is a daughter of Berkshire, a Royal Lodge winner who hasn't yet had a jumps runner in Britain. On the dam's side, she's from the family of Kario De Sormain, who won Graded races at Auteuil. I remember Kario because she came over for the Champion Chase in 2006 and I interviewed her trainer. "She will come to the English fences like a young girl discovering love," he told me. She unseated at the first fence, so make of that what you will. There are lots of unexposed types in today's field but her pedigree and the involvement of Williams raise expectations of a decent showing from Jikala.

2.Joseph O'Brien was easily the most prolific Flat-racing trainer in Ireland last year by number of runners, sending out 762 compared to 479 by his father, Aidan, or 556 by Jessie Harrington. He's not just interested in the best horses, he's happy to win at any level, as evidenced by today's opener at Dundalk, in which he runs Jawwaal. This is an eight-year-old rated 79 that was sold out of Michael Dods's yard at the end of last year for 15,000 guineas. I see the potential for Jawwaal to be well treated, considering he was rated 98 a couple of years back, but he's not the sort of horse to grab the attention of every elite-level trainer. It'll be interesting to see what his new trainer can do with him.

3. This could be the day Charlie Johnston gets the first winner that is attributed only to him. Mark Johnston's son held the licence jointly with his record-breaking father last year but Mark has now taken his name off the licence and the horses will run only under Charlie's name, which feels like a significant moment. We're told that nothing will change in the way the work is actually done at the Middleham yard but it seems only natural to expect that, over time, Charlie will make an increasing share of the important decisions, now that the operation is being run solely under his name. Ray Of Colours was a good fourth at 33-1 for the yard on Monday and now Asdaa is among the obvious contenders in a mile handicap at Kempton, having won at Newcastle last week.

Read these next:

'A big contender' - where is the ante-post value for Cheltenham's major chases?

2023 Tolworth Hurdle: who wins Sandown's big race based on previous trends?

The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content