EARLIER this year, Christophe Soumillon made it quite clear his intentions to beat the record total of 300 winners in a season set by Pierre-Charles Boudot only last year and the 36-year-old Belgian is well on course to achieve his goal as he has already ridden 228 winners.

He is 43 winners ahead of the current champion Boudot with whom he shared the title in 2015. Last Sunday, Soumillon picked up two races at Le Pin au Haras and then zipped down to Tours, a 125-mile trip, to gain another success.

At the end of last month, he flew to Corsica and rode at Calzarellu racecourse at Prunelli-di-Fiumorbo and landed a four-timer.

Soumillon has a strike rate of nearly 18% and has amassed nearly €7 million in prize money (€9.4 million when owner’s premiums are added).

His Group 1 victories have come in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the Prix Jean Prat, Grand Prix de Paris and, most recently, the Prix du Cadran.

Barring accidents, Soumillon should break the 300-winner mark by the end of the season.