Sean Bowen will head to the Cheltenham Festival buoyed by a big-race winner.
Wales’ champion jockey – somewhat unusually for him – had not ridden a winner for a week heading into Imperial Cup day at Sandown on Saturday. But all that changed when he partnered the highly promising Scorpio Rising to victory in the valuable EBF Novices’ Handicap Hurdle.
It was an impressive performance by Olly Murphy’s six-year-old, who has won all four starts this term since being beaten into third at Ffos Las last spring.
He had no issue with the deep going as he sauntered into the lead jumping the second-last flight. Bowen then only had to push him out to record a comfortable two-and-three-quarter length success and have his connections eyeing up Grade 1 targets further down the line.
But Bowen was out of luck in the Imperial Cup as Go Dante – who was bidding to win the race for the third year in succession – could only finish a well-beaten seventh.
Scorpio Rising’s win – and that of the promising Wilstar at Warwick on Sunday afternoon – will have put Bowen in good spirits ahead of the biggest jumping week in the calendar, and when he will be hoping to finally bury his Festival hoodoo by riding his first winner at the meeting.
He has a number of serious chances, perhaps the most noteworthy coming in the Gold Cup itself on Friday when he partners Haiti Couleurs from the Pembrokeshire stable of Rebecca Curtis. The nine-year-old – who won the National Hunt Chase at last year’s meeting before going on to land the Irish and Welsh Grand Nationals – bids to become the first Welsh-trained winner since Norton’s Coin back in 1990.
Ben Jones will be in opposition on The Jukebox Man, while other Welsh hopefuls during the week include the Sam Thomas-trained Steel Ally in the Arkle Chase and Lorcan Williams (photographed) on board Golden Ace in her attempt at winning back-to-back Champion Hurdles.
Jones is another who heads to the Festival on the back of a quieter week than normal, but he went some way towards putting that right on Sunday when Merry Away won on his debut in a bumper on the Warwick card.
James Bowen will have a decent book of rides at Cheltenham, and he was on the mark at Hereford on Saturday when Bective Abbey took a 3m 1f novices’ handicap chase for the in-form Nicky Henderson.
While all eyes will be on the Gold Cup on Friday, Ffos Las is getting ready to stage its own version. The inaugural running of the Welsh Gold Cup takes place at the Carmarthenshire course at its meeting on Monday, March 16.
The Class 3 contest is being sponsored by Amroth Bay Caravan Park and has a prize fund of £17,500. It is set to attract a quality field with 14-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls suggesting last week that it could be a target for his former Grade 2-winning hurdler Makin’yourmindup.
Our next meeting at Ffos Las is next Monday 16th March. There are six races from 2.30pm.
