London & The South will bid to seal the deal at Southwell as the 2025 Racing League reaches a conclusion on Thursday.
With a 125-point lead over closest challenger The East, Matt Chapman’s team is long odds-on to claim a maiden Racing League title having finished second in 2022 and third for the past two seasons.
London & The South start the night with an overall total of 738 points and another strong performance could see it eclipse Wales & The West’s competition record of 869 set in 2024.
Hong Kong-bound Richard Kingscote has all but secured the £20,000 top jockey award, as he leads second-placed Daniel Muscutt by 94 points, meaning Muscutt would need to win on all four of his mounts for The East at Southwell to snatch the prize.
Chapman said: “I am keeping everything crossed that Thursday goes well for London & The South. We have been consistent, with a team of happy trainers, happy jockeys and very supportive owners. All I have had to do is organise an excellent team.
“My trainers have been a joy to deal with throughout and people like George Scott and Chris Dwyer, who both joined the team later in the competition, have played blinders. I cannot thank them all enough and hope everyone feels like I have done them justice.
“There is no doubt that London & The South deserve this victory, although nothing is certain in horse racing. Mathematically, we should take all the beating and I think we have a strong squad for Southwell.
“I am delighted that Andaleep and Jimmy Speaking both line up again this week. They have been excellent for us this season, particularly Andaleep who is surely one of the most loved Flat handicappers in training.
“We have drafted in Rab Havlin to ride for us, with two of our jockeys Richard Kingscote and David Probert heading off to Hong Kong. If we win, it would be a nice payday for Rab as he will be entitled to some of the bonuses.
“Kingscote should win the Racing League top jockey award, which is a massive achievement in its own right. I know Richard was worried about the cost of shipping his dog to Hong Kong, so the £20,000 cash prize should help pay for travelling costs.”
Wales & The West managed to overhaul London and The South on the final night to win the title in 2022, so The East team will hope to emulate that achievement.
Team manager Charlie Fellowes said: “Racing League is always good fun and I think we have done great. It looks as though we will be a clear second, although Chapman has a really bad squad this week. I assumed he would be much stronger, so I have been winding him up, saying that we have the strongest squad we have ever produced.
“We are going to need London & The South to absolutely capitulate but, if you look at the early betting, we are stronger than them in every race we have runners. It is such a shame that we don’t have anything in Race 39 because we had four decent entries but none of them could run for various reasons.
“On a personal note, I am looking forward to Tan Rapido in Race 42. He is thriving at the moment and has good course form. Crowd Quake led home a one-two for us at Chepstow and it would be great if him and Charmaine could repeat the trick in Race 41.”
