Leadership to dominate in York

Fergal Lynch, who has shown true grit in getting himself back into the limelight after a spell in the doldrums, could be on the mark with Leadership (3.35, nap) in tomorrow's televised £135,000 John Smith's Cup at York.

Londonderry-born Lynch, 24, who travelled over from Ireland as a boy to join Reg Hollinshead, secured the apprentices' crown in 1996 with 70 winners. That impressive total included the Ebor Handicap at York on the Michael Stoute-trained Clerkenwell.

Yet, the following year his tally fell to 37. Trying to kickstart his career by moving to Newmarket did not work - he rode only 16 winners and explained: "It is always very difficult when you lose your claim, and it all happened very quickly for me. All of a sudden, I hit a brick wall."

To his credit, Lynch has worked very hard to put himself back into the picture. Realising there would be a big gap left in the North due to Jimmy Fortune moving South he relocated back to Yorkshire and the dip in his winner's graph started an upward curve again.

As an apprentice he bagged the Bessborough Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tykevor, but the Ebor victory for Sir Michael, who also trains Leadership, is a never-tobeforgotten moment from his scrapbook of rides.

He recalled: "Every time I needed a gap at York that day it opened up for me on Clerkenwell."

Here's hoping the same sort of thing happens with Leadership-Stoute, who has never lost faith in Lynch and often uses him for the stable's northern runners, has Kieren Fallon, Lynch's best friend, as his main jockey, so the link between all three is a stout one in all meanings of the word.