Matt Chapman is not resting on his laurels as his London and The South team head into Newcastle’s penultimate Racing League fixture at the top of the table.
The team have a 95-point lead over The East after a fruitful evening on home soil at Windsor last week, where they gathered 202 points through winners and placed horses.
Chapman said: “Racing League is one of those competitions where you would be lying if you said you did not want to be in front, but we know from our performance at Windsor last week, and on a couple of other occasions in the past, that teams can get 200 points or more in a night.
“There could be a huge swing at Newcastle towards one of the other teams, so by no means is this over.
“Some of the other mischievous team managers will paint the picture that this is London and The South’s to lose but maybe that means mathematics is not their strong suit.”
Of specific runners he feels could gain more valuable points for his team, Chapman added: “I am really looking forward to the two we run in Race 31 – Bragbor for George Scott and Telepathic for Simon and Ed Crisford. George thinks Bragbor has huge promise going forward, while Telepathic finally learnt how to settle last time when winning at Doncaster.
“We only had one entry in the five-furlong sprint, Race 33, but thankfully within 10 minutes we were able to bring in Jessica Macey’s Jenever, who goes well at Newcastle.
“Richard Hannon sends three talented horses, headed by Witch Hunter in Race 32, who is basically Group class over seven furlongs. Al Rufaa is also worth a mention in Race 34 as he was just beaten off the same mark at this meeting last year.
“All in all, I would be very disappointed if we do not notch between 70 and 100 points, which should keep us top of the table. If we don’t do well, I would obviously rather the bottom teams have a better night than Charlie Fellowes and The East.”
Charlie Fellowes, team manager for The East, accepts the task ahead is a significant one but retains faith that the gap can be closed.
He said: “95 points is a lot but, as we have seen with this competition in the past, it is not over until it is over. We hope to give it a good go because we are sending a strong team up to Newcastle.
“We just have to hope that Chapman’s team stumbles and lets us back in. If we can be within 40 points heading to Southwell, we will have a shot because I expect us to be very strong there as well.”
Scotland is a further 40 points behind The East in third and is able to call upon Paul Mulrennan, who has been the leading jockey at Newcastle over the last five years.
Team manager Alex Steedman said: “I am looking forward to Newcastle, given the depth of squad we have compared to recent weeks. It has been a different challenge for me because, in five of the seven races, we had at least seven entries. That meant I had to let a lot of trainers and owners down, which was unfortunate because many of those horses would have had genuine chances.”