Easton Angel is ahead of where Mecca’s Angel was at the equivalent point of her career – and I hope she can prove she’s also destined for the very top with a win at York today.

She was a better two-year-old than Mecca’s and she’s probably shown more as a three-year-old so far. The way she beat the colts at Sandown last month couldn’t have been more impressive and she now takes on the older horses for the first time in the John Smith's City Walls Stakes.

It will be another learning curve and this will be her toughest test to date, as the older horses are stronger, bigger and far more streetwise. That said, I sat on her on Wednesday and she could not be in better form.

She’s by the same sire, Dark Angel, as Mecca’s Angel and she is actually starting to behave like her at home. She’ll walk 100 yards and then stop and take in the surroundings, and look at the cars or anything else going by – just like Mecca’s does. Hopefully, she can emulate her with a Group One win too, and this will tell us whether she's up to that standard. She would be my best ride of the day.

Godolphin have put me up on Carry On Deryck in the big race at York, the John Smith’s Cup. It’s always an honour to pull on the royal blue silks, and I have had the odd bit of joy for them before.

They have enjoyed a lot of success in the big handicaps recently, and hopefully Carry On Deryck can be another.

He has plenty of big-handicap experience - fourth in the Britannia at Royal Ascot last year and only beaten four lengths in the Royal Hunt Cup last month, which sandwiched a win at Meydan. He’s drawn nicely in 13 and it’s great to be part of one of the big handicaps of the season – and in with a real shout.

The John Smith’s Silver Cup – a Listed race – has attracted a decent field and I would be keen on Sir Chauvelin running a big race. He ran a blinder in the consolation race for the Northumberland Plate and this drop down to a mile and six furlongs should suit. A good run should get him into the Ebor, which is the big target.

I ride a couple for Richard Fahey, who always does well at York. Home Cummins, in the John Smith's Racing Stakes, was third in a decent handicap at Newcastle last time, while In First Place is worth a second look on his first run in a nursery in the John Smith's Stakes.

Kevin Ryan is another trainer who loves running his better two-year-olds at York and hopefully Hemmingway fits that mould in the John Smith's Median Auction Maiden Stakes.

Corona Borealis is a horse who I know well as I rode him four times last season, when he was trained by Michael Dods. We were third over course and distance in September and he could easily hit a place in the John Smith's Stayers' Stakes (Handicap).

The big news of the week has been the retirement of Kieren Fallon after it transpired he had been suffering from depression.

I'd put him on a par with Mick Kinane and Johnny Murtagh, who were the real talents of the weighing room post Lester Piggott. He was always someone you could approach for advice, whether it be how to ride a track, manage your weight, or fitness routines and he was a great influence on the young lads coming through.

I saw him ride Blaine for Dandy Nicholls on Derby day and thought he was as riding as good as ever. He also had a good job with Michael Callaghan, which makes this news all the more of a shock.

I guess you have no idea what’s going through people’s heads. There are helplines and support from Racing Welfare and the PJA, and it is a subject which is becoming more and more high-profile, but depression or any mental illness seems very hard to diagnose.

I haven’t suffered myself but I can see why sportspeople are at risk. You can enjoy some incredible highs in your career; the phone constantly rings, the media love you, and you’re in demand. And then you can suffer an injury or loss of form and it all goes very quiet. There aren’t many lines of work where there are such fluctuating emotions in your professional life.

Kieren’s been through the mill as a jockey and I just wish him all the best. Hopefully we'll see him on a racecourse in the not-too-distant future.

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