AN 18th birthday is regarded as a coming of age, even if many teenagers spend part of the next day overcoming their first hangover.

Harry Cobden settled for a quiet night at home with the family instead, but he had plenty of reason to celebrate the big day last month having ridden three winners at Wincanton.

Plenty of young sportsmen have been dazzled by the first sight of the glittering prizes yet, even as he left the track, Cobden’s thoughts were mainly for the one that got away. Southfield Theatre was the hot favourite for the big race of the day, the Badger Ales Trophy, and just leading when he fell at the last fence.

“It was great but it could’ve been a lot better,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about the three winners. Southfield Theatre was just very unlucky, went to win his race but came down. I should’ve just appreciated the three winners but I couldn’t help thinking about Southfield Theatre. I’ll learn from it.”

Cobden, from Lydford-on-Fosse in Somerset, has certainly been a quick learner, graduating from pony racing, which has become such a fertile nursery for jump jockeys over the past decade, to national novice champion jockey in his first season point-to-pointing two years ago.

He rode his first winner under rules on El Mondo in a hunter chase at Leicester in March last year but was still relatively inexperienced when Paul Nicholls gave him his chance at Cheltenham in the November on Old Guard in the Greatwood Hurdle.

The pair won but Cobden admits that some of the importance almost passed him by. “I was a little bit naive back then and didn’t really appreciate what I’d done. I just came into work the next day as normal,” he said with the manner of one who has his feet almost glued to the ground.

Nicholls has come to appreciate the talent of Cobden, whose 67 winners under rules come at a strike-rate of 21% and put him on Irving who won the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, Cobden’s, first Grade One winner.

He has ridden 35 so far this season, putting him clear in the conditional jockeys’ championship, but the success can be a double-edged sword. There will be some who will worry that that he will ride out his claim – he needs just another eight winners – too soon for his own good recalling those who have failed to carry the burden of early promise when no longer able to call upon the weight allowance when riding against the seniors as a counterbalance.

However, Cobden is determined to seize each day and is relishing the prospect of the opportunities that will come his way. But he gives every impression of also having one eye on the future.

The return from injury of stable jockey Sam Twiston-Davies has curtailed some of the opportunities but Cobden will be hoping to make the most of the busy Christmas schedule.

“To win a Grade One is what dreams are made of and I’m grateful to Mr Nicholls and the owners for putting me on him,” Cobden said. “To put a 3lb claimer on in a race like that might not be the done thing in some eyes, but thankfully the boss has faith in me.

“Hopefully I’ll pick up some rides. I’m lucky because I’m getting rides for other trainers and I’m still getting rides for Mr Nicholls so we’ll see how it goes.”

The way that Cobden’s season has gone so far, this could be his coming of age.