Well, next to nothing.

This is always the way of it on the Monday of festival week. Nothing to do and all day to do it. I rode out this morning for Willie Mullins and that was it, my day's work done before a lot of people's had started.

There was a chance I might have been riding for Paul Nicholls in Stratford but he didn't need me to so that was that. Lay down and relaxed for the day. Sat watching DVDs with Gillian. The Longest Yard . . . not a bad movie actually.

Got a call last night from Tony Martin saying that Paul Carberry might be pulled by Noel Meade for the William Hill Trophy tomorrow and asking would I ride Dun Doire for him. Jumped at the chance.

TUESDAY What a day. I'm sitting here in the weigh room and somebody's just handed me a glass of champagne (well, a plastic beaker but it's as near to a glass as makes no difference).

Must be from AP. It's tradition . . . whichever jockey wins the championship race on each day of the festival buys champagne for the rest of us.

After the day I've had, I'll gladly accept it, although I'm not so sure that McCoy would have been overly keen on buying me champagne after my horse beat his on the line in the first race.

To be absolutely truthful, I couldn't believe it myself that Noland could get up to beat Straw Bear. Coming to the second last, I thought I was probably going to be seventh or eighth. I was sure the race was gone. Even when I crossed the last, I was thinking that at best I might be able to sneak into fourth.

I actually thought Straw Bear was a lot further in front than he was. But just after the last, my lad started to stay on well and that was when I thought we might have a chance. So I got stuck in then and it came off.

There's no better feeling than taking a race on the line like that.

Getting the first win of the week out of the way in the first race is a huge relief.

Tuesdays have never really been lucky for me here but this one's a success already. It isn't really a case of the pressure being off as much as it's the glow of riding a winner so early on. You go into the week just hoping to feel that at some stage.

And here I am, feeling it twice in one afternoon. I rode out on Dun Doire this morning and had a chat with Tony about him. Tony was very happy with him and told me just to relax on him going round. He said not to worry about him and not to put a gun to his head, not to ask anything of him early on. And he predicted that if I got to the top of the hill in touch, I'd find out then the amount of horse I had under me.

By God, he was right.

When Dun Doire went, he fairly went. We passed the others so easily, I could hardly believe it. The second last fence was out because Andrew Thornton was getting treatment the other side of it after he fell on the first circuit and that definitely helped because it let Dun Doire build up a head of steam. But once he got going, he was so powerful. That horse has a fine future. He probably wants it a little bit softer but he'll stay forever.

So here I am, a day over me that I couldn't have believed beforehand. I might even have snuck a third win when Dad's horse Artist's Muse had a real chance turning in. She missed the last and never really got going again after that. But a win there would just have been greedy.

And I'm realistic about things. You have to be in racing. You might think that sitting here with two winners under my belt, I'll be disappointed if that's my lot for the week come Friday. I can very safely promise that I won't. If this is all I come home with, this has been a good week.

WEDNESDAY Talk about coming back down to Earth with a bang.

Literally. Spent a fair part of today either on the flat of my back or scratching my head wondering where it had all gone wrong. Equus Maximus came nowhere in the Bumper . . . amazingly, none of Willie's horses did anything . . . but at least he let me stay in the saddle until the finish.

Our Ben made a simple enough mistake in the SunAlliance Chase and I fell off him (nice reward after I picked him over the eventual winner Star de Mohaison, eh? ) and Kauto Star hit the deck in the Queen Mother right in front of Moscow Flyer, who thought better of stepping round me and clambered right over me instead. Cheers, Moscow.

Actually, seeing as it turned out to be Moscow's last race, it was probably only right that he left a bit of a bruise on me as he went by. What else could I have expected from a horse that has been beating me all the way through his career? What a horse, though.

I have nothing but the greatest respect for him. I raced against him at his best with Azertyuiop and he was phenomenal. The Tingle Creek race at Sandown in 2004 was about as good as it gets in racing and he came out on top. That was the best I ever saw him. Forget how he ran here this afternoon . . . a great career ended today.

I'm stiff as a poker because of him, though. This weigh room isn't as nice a place this evening, I can tell you. Funny, the race I was most happy with today was the first one, when Denman just got beaten up the hill by Nicanor. I know it cost a lot of people banker money but I couldn't have been happier with him.

He ran a cracker but just didn't have the toe at the end.

You can't ask for more than the horse to run its best race.

What I will be asking for as soon as I get back to the house this evening, though, is a nice warm bath. I'm sore and I'm stiff and feeling just a little bit sorry for myself.

But after a day like this, there's nothing left to do only chalk it up to experience and hope the next day will be better. Cheltenham has a great habit of making you philosophical about things. Mind you, I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be so philosophical if I didn't have the two wins from yesterday already tucked away.

THURSDAY I wasn't expecting much from today and for that reason, I can sit here this evening and look on it as a good day. True, the best I could do was a fourth on My Will in the Ryanair Chase but at least I managed to finish every race this time. Considering how stiff I was this morning, the last thing I needed today was a fall or two with the odd shoe in the ribs thrown in.

I'm just after hearing that five horses died today. Two of them . . . Holy Orders and Mr Babbage . . . were Willie's. This has been an awful week for him and this just tops it all off.

It would mean a lot if I could bring him a bit of a pick-meup tomorrow.

It's only just registered with me now as well that there's a rake of us on two winners each. I see AP has two, Mick Fitz and Barry both rode two today, Chocolate Thornton has two and even Richard Harding has two.

That'll make things interesting tomorrow anyway. We'll all tell you that just to ride one winner is a dream and while that's true, come the last day of the festival, we're all looking at each other with the leading jockey award in mind.

Chances are, it'll probably come down to who has the most seconds and thirds. I have two so far, so fingers crossed.

FRIDAY I know Cheltenham brings a lot of joy to a lot of people but I guarantee you there isn't a happier person leaving this place this evening than me. Desert Quest came skipping through the field in the last race to win me the award for leading jockey and in the end, it all came down to Noland pipping Straw Bear on the line in that first race on Tuesday. At least, that's what McCoy just said to me through gritted teeth. And he didn't put it just as nicely as that, I promise you.

Three wins is a great Cheltenham by any standards but even so, there's still a bit of me that's sitting here thinking of what could have been in the Gold Cup. Hedgehunter ran a massive race and I'm sure he'll never have as good a chance again.

Jumping the last there was a little part of me that believed . . . just for a split second . . .

that the race was there for me.

But it wasn't to be and if you're going to get beaten by any jockey, it may as well be Conor O'Dwyer. He'll not like me writing this kind of thing but Conor is a gent, the role model for all the Irish jockeys.

And look at his Cheltenham record now . . . four wins overall, two Gold Cups, two Champion Hurdles. I'd give my left arm for just one of those.

But I can't be complaining, not after the week I've had.

I'm thrilled to have won the leading jockey award and it was good to put a smile back on Willie's face with Hedgehunter. I had a big enough fall on Andreas today but at least I didn't get kicked around the place.

Even if I had, though, I'm not sure I'd feel anything only elation just now. What a week.

No wonder we keep coming back here.