When AP McCoy retired last year I thought Richard Johnson was as big a certainty for the championship as AP was before him.

I am delighted to be in a position where winners are flowing freely, but not as freely as they are for Dickie.

I go racing with him a lot, and I have a laugh with him about how I just can’t close the gap on him. He’ll always come away with a winner or two more than me. A perfect example was at Exeter this week when I rode a double only to see Dickie ride a treble!

Of course it would be great to beat him one day, but I’m under no illusions it’s a near impossible task – we keep trying though.

At the time of writing I am 14 off my first century, and already four winners past last year’s total of 82. I was pretty happy with last season, so to beat that total in early November shows just how well it’s all going.

But I am all too aware that an injury can put a stop to all that momentum so I don’t take anything for granted. That said it would be nice to have an early Christmas present and bring up the century in the next few weeks.

The pick of my rides over the weekend at at Cheltenham has to be John Ferguson’s Nabucco, the favourite for tomorrow’s Stanjames.com Greatwood Hurdle.

He has done nothing wrong over hurdles and is progressing well. I was very sweet on his chances at Ascot a fortnight ago and he didn’t let us down.

It’s a mighty competitive race with some top-class opposition but I wouldn’t swap him for anything.

If I had to, then stablemate Devilment would be top of my list. I did sway between them during the week as Devilment has also done everything asked of him. I just went with Nabucco in the end as he was an unknown quantity – but it wouldn’t surprise me if I’ve chosen wrongly.

John has three other really exciting prospects tomorrow.

Maputo runs in the Sky Bet Supreme Trial and has been very good for us, winning four times. His last win at Kempton was exceptional and I can’t wait to get back on him.

El Namoose had his first run over fences last time – his first run for nine months – and put in an exceptional performance to come second to Sametegal. It rode like a very good novice chase and if he builds on that then there’s a big run in store in the Racing Post Arkle Trial.

We really like Waterlord who runs in the bumper horse. This is his biggest test but we’re hoping he’s up to it.

My best chance today could lie with Atlantic Gold, who won here three weeks ago and comes in great from, as all Charlie Longsdon’s horses are. He won a very competitive race last time, as is this Listed Handicap Hurdle, but he showed he’s up to this level and hopefully can put in a repeat performance. That might be good enough.

Charlie also trains Azure Fly, who runs in the Murphy Group Handicap Chase. He won a nice race at Ludlow last month and was then seventh at Cheltenham, but only beaten a couple of lengths in a close finish. This step up in trip should suit. It’s a very competitive race but I’m hoping for a good spin.

The big race of the meeting is the Paddy Power Gold Cup. Benny’s Mist is a good old favourite of mine and I love riding him, but he’s up against it here. The bookmakers quite rightly rate him as an outsider, but this shorter trip should suit him better than Ascot last time and he has good form in the book.

I ride Morning Herald for Martin Keighley in the bumper. He has some good form in the book but this looks a classy contest and it will be hard.

Aidan is sponsored by Racing UK, which is offering a free one-month trial (normally £22.98 per month) to the leading horseracing channel (Sky 432, Virgin 536, Freeview 231). Visit www.racinguk.com/freetrial or call 0844 472 5777.