THERE is no slackening of pace where jump racing is concerned. New champion Richard Johnson teamed up with Gordon Elliott to win the near three and a quarter mile handicap hurdle on 9/4 favourite Eshtiaal at Cartmel on Saturday, while Henry Brooke rode a double on Altruism and Abbey Storm.

Elliott and Johnson teamed up again at the track on Wednesday when the champion jockey drove Tullyglush (15/8) to a narrow win.

At Fontwell on Sunday, David Noonan and Denis O’Regan won six of the eight races between them. Both recorded trebles, Noonan enjoying a bloodless success on Anthony Honeyball’s 1/6 shot Fountains Windfall and the same trainer’s 9/2 chance Chill Factor in the long-distance chase, with Polly Gundry’s Sir Dylan, also 9/2, obliging in a division of the handicap hurdle.

Cork-born Noonan (20) was champion amateur rider last season and may well be champion conditional this time around. He is attached to David Pipe’s yard but the link with Honeyball should prove beneficial.

“There’s a long way to go but the title is nice to aim for,” he smiled. “I’ve ridden three doubles but never a treble. It’s fantastic.”

O’Regan was cautioned after causing interference to Paddy Brennan on Kingscourt Native in the long-distance handicap hurdle but his mount, Very Extravagant, kept the race. His other two winners, Maid of Tuscany and Vexilium, were also for Neil Mulholland. The threesome paid 362/1.

Zetland Gold Cup

AT Redcar on Monday, Mark Johnston’s Revolutionist, 8/1, followed up his Newmarket success by taking the Racing UK Zetland Gold Cup. In control from three furlongs out under Joe Fanning, he looks a typically tough Johnston handicapper and has not finished winning yet.

Nicholls retires

ADRIAN Nicholls, a stalwart of the northern weigh-room for many years, has retired. The popular jockey rode many winners for his father David, including Group 1s on Regal Parade in the 2009 Sprint Cup at Haydock and the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville the following year. Opportunities have been thin on the ground this year and he will spend more time working on his livery business with wife Clare and continuing to act as an instructor at the Northern Racing School.

Gannon accident

SAMMY-JO Bell is out of hospital following an operation on her pelvis after a fall at Carlisle recently, but it seems her friend and colleague Cathy Gannon will also be out of action for a while. Unlucky with injuries over the years, she broke several toes in a nasty incident in the stalls last Wednesday week and missed the ride on Dinkum Diamond (fifth) in the Group 3 Timeform Jury Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.