Victory lifts England to new level

The Guiseley-based jump jockey’s 75th success in his burgeoning career means the 24-year-old has ridden out of his claim and will now compete on equal terms against the top riders such as Richard Johnson and Ruby Walsh.

The victory was particularly satisfying for England because he spotted the horse’s potential at the recent Ascot sales and advised his fiancée Samantha Drake, and her parents Richard and Janet, to buy Star Presenter for £1,200.

This looks to be a very sound investment after the horse galloped to a seven-length victory in the two-mile handicap chase to claim the first prize of £4,223 at the North Yorkshire track.

The manner of the victory certainly surprised England – Star Presenter’s best form has previously been on ground far less arduous than the conditions that he encountered at Catterick.

“He’s done a lot of work on our field which is very wet,” England told The Yorkshire Post. “I think it has just helped freshen him up.

“He’s quite young and he’s a nice stamp of a horse. He’s a big chasing type and he was within our budget.

“He’s more than earned his keep, but hopefully there is more to come.

“He took quite a strong hold. I just kept him out wide on the slightly better ground, which wasn’t so churned up. He jumped like a buck and hit the front two out and went and won the race.”

These are exciting times for England – his partner is waiting to receive her training licence so Star Presenter currently runs in the name of his prospective father-in-law.

He also hopes that his new senior status will lead to more trainers calling his agent Bruce Jeffrey, who books his rides.

“It’s a milestone, it’s a good achievement,” added the jockey who recently overcame a fractured vertebra before finishing third on the Drake owned and trained Distime in his first ride over Aintree’s Grand National fences.

“Hopefully trainers will see that I’m now a fully fleged jockey, and I will get more opportunities. I’m hoping so. It’s a big weight off my shoulders getting this far – I was stuck on 74 winners for too long for my liking.”

The ever-popular Balthazar King is more likely to run in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival than the Crabbie’s Grand National after he made a welcome return to Philip Hobbs’s yard.

The 11-year-old has been recuperating from an awful injury he sustained at Aintree in this year’s National – Balthazar King suffered broken ribs after being cannoned into by another horse when falling at the Canal Turn.

A frequent winner over Cheltenham’s unique cross-country course, Balthazar King also finished second to Pineau De Re over the big fences at Aintree in 2014, but the Hobbs camp are only lukewarm about a return to Merseyside.

“He has arrived back in the yard and we’re all very happy about that as we’re all very fond of him,” said the trainer’s wife Sarah. “I know it was bad luck what happened, but he did fall first and then another horse ran into him.”

Jonjo O’Neill feels it would be “silly” not to at least give More Of That the option of running in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Winner of the World Hurdle in 2014, his stable star has won his first two novice chases at Cheltenham in an imperious style reminiscent of Coneygree, who became the first novice for four decades to win the blue riband chase last season.