Nick Scholfield enjoying the journey with sole Flat star

Nick Scholfield admitted he and his sole sprinter Theheatison are both “learning on the job” following his notable second at York.

Scholfield was a prolific National Hunt jockey during a career which spanned over 19 years before bowing out at the 2025 Grand National to turn his attention to the training ranks.

And he appears to have unearthed a flagbearer on the level with Theheatison, who secured Scholfield's first Flat winner last month.

The Too Darn Hot colt, who cost £18,000, has already earned more than his price-tag after defying his 50-1 odds to snatch the runner-up spot behind Andrew Balding's Mia Fantasia in a valuable nursery on the second day of the Ebor Festival.

“We are predominantly a jumps yard, we've got a handful of Flat horses and we got him for a bit of fun through the summer, and run by run he's improved,” he said.

“It was a shot in the dark at York, he did what I hoped to be honest, but when you go there and you see the quality of the animals I was thinking just before the race that maybe it wasn't the place to be.

“But he's really gelled with Silvestre (de Sousa, jockey) and he ran on strongly through the line and that gives us hope going forward.”

The Felstead Court handler revealed he only had three Flat horses and two of those look set to be dual purpose, so it can be pretty lonely for the juvenile.

Scholfield added: “Credit to the horse because he's our only two-year-old and our only sprinter so he'd work a lot on his own, but that's through no fault of his own as he's got nothing to work with!

“He seems to be thriving and I treat him like a jumper back at the yard. I do think he's improving, he seems to be growing into himself and it will be nice if Silvestre can keep the ride on him.

“We might head back to York in a month's time for another decent prize, but he's already done himself proud and hopefully he looks a type to improve as a three-year-old as well.

“He won over five (furlongs) on firm and looked like he could do a mile on that (soft ground on the Knavesmire). He's bred to stay and he's quite quick out of the gates, and he's very versatile. I'm learning on the job and so is he.”

A return to the North Yorkshire track appears to be the next port of call for Theheatison.

“He's actually up for sale but at the same time I'd quite like to keep him. I think he's qualified for one of the sales race at York, a £100,000 race, so we might head back there or place him accordingly,” he concluded.

“He's been to Newmarket and he's been to York. We've thrown him in the deep end and he's handled it all quite well.

“Everyone loves him at the yard, he's our only colt and our only sprinter. We keep joking that he will be all right, but he keeps producing a little bit more.”