PADDY Brennan and Tom Scudamore have ridden the last two winners of the King George VI Chase – one of jump racing’s most coveted prizes.

But this Saturday the pair – with no less than 16 Cheltenham Festival winners between them – are set for a very different challenge in the £20,000 Follow Sun Bets On Twitter “Jump Jockeys’ Nunthorpe” Handicap at York.

Instead of getting the leg up on a three-mile chaser, Brennan and Scudamore are preparing to tackle the flying five furlongs on the Knavesmire, which is the distance that the Group 1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes is staged over every August at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival.

Brennan, who is well known for his partnership with the superb Cue Card (King George hero in 2015), is jocked-up to ride the in-form Henley for trainer Tracy Waggott. But while riding a sprinter is not the norm for Brennan, it is far from unknown territory for him.

He said: “I’ve ridden on the Flat before. I started with Jim Bolger and I rode a winner over five furlongs at Navan. It’s a long, long time ago but yeah, I’ve experienced it.

“The horse won his last two – any rain probably won’t do him any harm. But it’s five furlongs and we’ll jump out and go as fast as we can.

“This is definitely new to most of the lads – they wouldn’t have experienced anything like this, ever.

“York is a lovely place. I’ve been there before – it’s one of the nicest racecourses I’ve been to, so I’m looking forward to going and riding on the track.”

Like Brennan, weighing-room colleague Scudamore rode on the Flat very early in his career.

Scudamore, the rider of last year’s King George star Thistlecrack, said: “When I first started I was 16 – I rode on the Flat. Ryan Moore, Davy Russell and myself all started off competing against each other on the Flat.

“It was a very good experience and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I was champion amateur on the Flat. I think I rode 10 winners on the Flat as an amateur, so did okay. It was a long, long time ago (he landed the Flat amateurs’ championship in 2001).”

Scudamore is scheduled to partner the Paul Midgley-trained Gamesome this Saturday. He says there has already been some chat among the jump jockeys about riding at York and it’s a race he’d love to win.

Scudamore added: “It would be tremendous, a great thrill. I might have ridden a sprinter as an amateur round Redcar. Other than that, I’ve never ridden in a sprint race, so it will be a new experience and one I’m very much looking forward to.”

The declarations for the race will be published tomorrow but several other jump jockeys are already listed to ride: Timmy Murphy (Love On The Rocks), Jack Quinlan (Escalating), Sean Quinlan (Mount Kiara), Andrew Tinkler (Bashiba), Joe Colliver (Fumbo Jumbo) and Sam Twiston-Davies (Memories Galore).

Saturday’s first of seven races is due off at 1.55pm, with Olly Murs taking to the stage after racing. The popularity of the event means that the racecourse has reached capacity on Stands Side. There will be no admissions to Stand Side sold on the day, however racegoers can still be part of the atmosphere by visiting the Course Enclosure, it is only open for sales once gates open (11.15am) on the raceday. For more information please visit www.yorkracecourse.co.uk<http://www.yorkracecourse.co.uk/>.