Sam quits as Nicholls No 1 rider

HARRY COBDEN has become No 1 jockey to 10-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls after Sam TwistonDavies said he will ride as a freelance in the new jumps season. Twiston-Davies, 25, took the job in 2014. He rode 47 winners from 217 rides for the stable last season but his overall tally of 108 was his lowest since taking the job. Twiston-Davies’s status as Nicholls’ top rider had been eroded by the emergence of 19-year-old Cobden, who won two Grade One races for the stable last season. There had been rumours of a tug of war for Cobden’s services with rival trainer Colin Tizzard.