Maguire rejoins the title conflict

The new National Hunt season now begins as soon as the old one ends, yet for three months it has been all but ignored, a campaign in body but not in spirit. Now the wait is almost over. When a young, determined Irishman swings into the stirrups at Worcester tomorrow, the paddock-side spectators will know that the spirit has finally arrived.

No-one embodies the courage and resilience which jump racing demands of its competitors quite like Adrian Maguire. No-one rides quite like him, either. Maguire at his peak is 10 stone of dogged intent, by turns coaxing and demanding the best from his partners, and riding every race as if it were the Gold Cup.

For the last two seasons, these qualities have taken him to within touching distance of the championship, but still that prize eludes him. Two years ago, he rode 194 winners, only for Richard Dunwoody to boot in three more. Eleven months later, he was tied with Dunwoody on 130 when a fall broke his arm and brought his season to a premature and bitterly disappointing conclusion.

Maguire has not ridden in public since, which has allowed others, most notably David Bridgwater and Tony McCoy, last year's champion conditional, to build a useful start in this year's title race. McCoy has ridden 32 winners on the summer circuit, Bridgwater has 15, but as he sets out at Worcester tomorrow, Maguire will know that he is still the 6-5 favourite with William Hill to become champion jockey for the first time.

Yet while his timing in a race is impeccable, Maguire could hardly have chosen a worse moment to pursue pre-eminence among his fellow jockeys. Though his old rival Dunwoody is now riding freelance and available at 20-1, no fewer than three other jockeys are quoted at 6-1 or less. Bridgwater, newly appointed first rider to Martin Pipe, is reckoned to be Maguire's most dangerous rival on 7-4. McCoy, with his good lead, is 5-1, while Norman Williamson, who finished third last year, is a 6-1 chance. It is a further measure of the strength of competition that jockeys of the quality of Peter Niven and Jamie Osborne are offered at 50-1.

There is one man, though, who will be on a winner if any of the market leaders comes out on top. Dave Roberts is the agent for all four, but he knows only too well how swiftly fortunes can change and is not inclined towards predictions. "I say to all my jockeys that if they can get through the season in one piece that's half the battle," he said yesterday. ''If they could all get through injury-free, that would give me as much pleasure as anything else."

Nor is Roberts as swift as the bookmakers to dismiss Richard Dunwoody's chance of a fourth consecutive title. "I don't think Richard will lie down without a fight and you have to admire him for that," he said. "I think if he's there with a chance he'll go for it. He's a true professional."

Although Maguire rode 194 winners two years ago and still was not champion, his agent believes that about 140 will be sufficient to secure the title this season. "There are at least seven riders who are well capable of riding 100 winners, and anyone who can ride 100 winners could be the champion jockey. It depends on avoiding injuries, how well your stable does, and having a bit of luck throughout the year by being in the right place to get the right spare ride at the right time."

The only firm prediction, it seems, is that once again the race for the championship will be a compelling feature of the winter campaign. Given the constant possibility of injury, it would be foolish to back Maguire at such short odds. Most punters, though, would agree that to see him take the title he so richly deserves would in itself be reward enough.