Fergal O'Brien's daughter Fern set to spend season with Willie Mullins - but back in Britain for Cheltenham ride on Friday

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Bouncing from Champions Day one weekend to Cheltenham the next is quite a change of pace, although I suppose it's possible the ground will be better at the home of jump racing than it was at Ascot. Anyway, this is surely the time to check in with Britain's leading jumps trainer right now, Fergal O'Brien.

Whichever metric you prefer, O'Brien is clear at the top of the table. He's had 50 winners already, while his nearest rivals are barely past 30. In prize-money, he's gathered in £439,000, almost £100,000 more than anyone else.

An exceptionally strong start has a lot to do with it. O'Brien had 20 winners in May, matching his best total for a single month. But he was also strong through September with nine from 27.

Based at Withington, O'Brien lives about a ten-minute drive from Cheltenham racecourse so naturally he puts a lot of emphasis on getting winners there. He had a double on the Saturday of the October meeting a couple of years ago.

"It's where we like to have runners and winners," O'Brien told the Front Runner last night on his way home from Kempton. "We're really looking forward to it now."

Among the things he's looking forward to is the chance to see his child again. Now 18, Fern O'Brien is at the stage of travelling around to soak up as much wisdom as she can from others in the game but her father has booked her for the ride on Herewegohoney in a handicap chase for amateur riders on Friday, which ought to be enough to ensure her return to the Cheltenham area.

"She's based with Willie Mullins at the minute," he reports. "Initially, she went for two months, August and September. Then she came back and rode a winner at Newmarket and proceeded to tell me she'd quite like to spend the rest of the season there.

"It's great that she's enjoying it. I spent a morning there, it's a fantastic place and set-up to be involved with and she just loves it. Best of luck to her, she'll learn loads there."

You might remember O'Brien Jr making a strong start to her career in the saddle with four winners from nine on the Flat in August 2021. This year, she's started to get some winners over obstacles as well.

Friday's race will be her first ride over fences at Cheltenham, a very big moment. "It'll be massive for her and I'm very appreciative of the owners, letting her ride.

"Herewegohoney goes well fresh. She picked up a little niggle after a July race at Market Rasen, where she won well. I think this race'll suit her. It'll be run at a fairly brisk pace, as amateur races often are, and I think she'll travel well enough and stay the trip, so fingers crossed."

How does he rate Fern's prospects as a jockey? "She's definitely got a very good racing brain. She just needs to strengthen up in herself. 

"She's only got ten winners left on her 7lb claim, so spending a winter in Ireland where she probably won't be riding that much will protect her claim. Then she can come back next winter and turn conditional and give it a go."

Fergal O'Brien: hoping for another big seasonCredit: Edward Whitaker

The other horse O'Brien is looking forward to running at Cheltenham on Friday is Kamsinas in a Grade 2 novice hurdle. "He was a good bumper horse last year, unlucky for us first time at Kelso, then went back there and won. 

"We don't know what he beat at Worcester [on his hurdles debut 11 days ago] but he's had a run. Two miles round Cheltenham looks like it could be made for him, he's a strong traveller. Any bit of rain that comes, the better for him. He wants good winter ground, soft would be ideal."

The forecast doesn't suggest a great deal of rain is likely until Thursday night. A GoingStick reading of 6.3 has been published for Cheltenham (compared with 7.3 at this time last year), suggesting good going.

I ask about horses O'Brien is looking forward to this season and he mentions Punctuation, who won a York handicap under Hollie Doyle recently. It was a first outing for the six-year-old since he won at the Grand National meeting in April and he is apparently on his way to the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham next month, hoping for plenty of cut.

Paddy Brennan has been the jockey most closely associated with O'Brien and that will continue to be the case on big days through the core season, but the load is being shared around a bit more than in the past. "We're very lucky we've got Connor Brace, Liam Harrison, Jack Hogan, Daire Davis, Tom Broughton's a very good amateur. Johnny Burke and Kielan Woods come in and ride out as well. 

"So Paddy will still have the pick of what he wants to ride and he's a great help to the other boys as well."

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The Front Runner is our unmissable 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.