Newmarket Red lead team talkSPORT by seven points after week one of the Racing League; Jack Mitchell leads jockey standings after riding Bonneval to victory in race four at Newcastle; watch raceday two at Doncaster live on Sky Sports Racing on Thursday, August 5
Friday 30 July 2021 09:56, UK
Team talkSPORT's Jack Mitchell has a commanding early lead in the jockey standings after week one of the Racing League.
Mitchell was sent out for all six of talkSPORT's rides as the new competition got underway at Newcastle on Thursday night, with teammates Hollie Doyle and Cieren Fallon riding at Goodwood and Epsom, respectively.
Mitchell, who registered his first 100-winner year in 2020, enjoyed his 71st of this year as hot favourite Bonneval won race four for trainer James Fanshawe.
The Racing League's team format sees points awarded from first position to 10th in each of the six races each week, with the winning team and jockey each collecting 25 to add to their total.
As well as gaining maximum points in race four, Mitchell picked up valuable scores with a second-placed finish in the final race of the night on Roger Varian's Lydford, as well as a third, fourth and sixth-placed result.
He leads the way with a total of 78 points, 17 clear of Newmarket Red's Luke Morris and 21 ahead of Hayley Turner for team ThoroughBid.
Despite failing to register a winner at Newcastle, Newmarket Red lead the team standings after consistently picking up big scores, with three second-placed horses and two thirds, to register 85 points from a possible 150.
They lead Mitchell's talkSPORT team by seven, with a gap of 15 back to team Racehorse Lotto, who enjoyed victory in race with Daniel Muscutt (6th in the jockeys standings with 40 points) riding William Knight's Pearl Beach.
Goat Racing, eToro Racing, ThoroughBid and Team Arena also enjoyed winners on the night as all six competitive handicaps were won by a different team.
A host of big name jockeys will join the competition in the coming weeks, with Newmarket Red's Frankie Dettori and Team Swish's Derby-winning rider Adam Kirby set to make their Racing League debuts.
The competition heads south to Doncaster next Thursday, with six more races live on Sky Sports Racing.
After two further meetings at Lingfield and one at Windsor, the Racing League returns to Newcastle for week six on September 2, where the first ever champions will be crowned.
As well as competing for £50,000 per race each week, the winning team will be awarded an added bonus of £150,000.
The winning team's trainers will share £60,000, with £30,000 going to stable staff and an extra £50,000 bonus shared between the competition's top three jockeys.
