A lot has been written and said in the press about the current crop of National Hunt jockeys and the possibility of Sean Bowen breaking some of A. P. McCoy’s records in the future.

The overall standard of jockeys is solid, but if I had to choose the best at the moment, I would side with Harry Cobden. He is a very natural horseman and has improved significantly over the last couple of seasons.

Sean Bowen is also a talented rider who performs consistently well and likely benefits from having no major weight issues, as he is not particularly tall.

With regard to whether he will break any of McCoy’s records, I have my doubts. A. P. McCoy was a one-off. He managed to avoid injury most of the time and rode plenty of winners when he possibly shouldn’t have been riding, as he had been injured but still somehow passed the doctor.

The medical side is very strict now, if you have any slight injuries, you normally get stood down for a few days.

Among the current crop of jockeys, Harry Skelton is a decent rider, but in my opinion he often gives his horses too much to do. He frequently sits at the rear or adopts a hold-up tactic, which makes his style feel a bit one-dimensional. A few others, Brian Hughes is still a very good jockey, then you have several who are decent riders, some who are riding very good horses, and are what I would call competent riders.

Nico de Boinville would fall into that category. Many of the Nicky Henderson rides are “point and steer” jobs!

I was talking to Declan Murphy recently about the riders from our era compared with today’s jockeys. He shared the same view: in the 1980s and 1990s there were some exceptionally good jump jockeys. The best I think I rode against was John Francome — a brilliant rider, always very calm in the weighing room, almost as if he didn’t care, though of course he did. Richard Dunwoody was another outstanding jockey, followed by several others such as Peter Scudamore, Hywel Davies, Graham McCourt, Steve Smith Eccles, Chris Grant, Jamie Osborne, Graham Bradley, and Declan himself, who was unfortunately injured in his prime.

Looking at the racing today in France. At Auteuil, where the going will be very soft, some strong Graded races over hurdles and fences. The racing has an early start at 10.20 am, the first race could go the way of the likely favourite Choeur De Grive, who was not quite up to Grade 2 class last time and will be more suited to today’s race. This is a step down in class, and a previous win in October at this track was in a Class 2 hurdle, was a decent effort.

La Delirante 12.40 has strong credentials in the Grade 3 hurdle, she is a winner at this venue previously and was a pleasing second on her latest start, when beating one of today’s rivals Clarte Du Sourire into third that day at this racecourse in mid-November.

At Huntingdon in the UK, I thought Djelo could win again in the race he won last year the Sky Bet Peterborough Chase (Grade 2) at 3.00pm. He acts well on a right-handed track and won on his seasonal return in early November.

More soon.

Reflecting on the racing today at Sandown. The most impressive winner was No Drama This End in the 1.45 Grade 2 Novices Hurdle. He came back on the bridle after jumping the second last flight and sauntered home on the run from the last flight to win eased down. He looks like a bright prospect going forward and could be a future Cheltenham candidate in March.

Good card’s tomorrow. I hope Jonbon can win again at Sandown in the Tingle Creek Chase ( Grade 1) at 3.00. He loves the track and can give a much better effort than his latest start at Cheltenham 22 days ago when second behind L’Eau Du Sud , who re-opposes tomorrow and has a live chance.

More soon.