Sean Bowen blog: 'A great chance of back-to-back wins'

The latest Sean Bowen blog sees the leading jockey preview his rides at Bangor-On-Dee on Saturday coming off the back of the Grand National last week.

1:05 Bangor-On-Dee – Haiti Coleurs

Although he was beaten a long way when I rode him two starts ago in a Grade 2 at Haydock, he actually didn’t run too badly that day, and he seemed to appreciate the drop in grade when getting off the mark in emphatic fashion in a maiden hurdle at Chepstow last month. He was very impressive that day, and hopefully that’s given him a bit of confidence now he’s got his head in front.

This will be tougher under a penalty taking on some previous winners, but Rebecca Curtis’ horses have been running well lately, so providing he builds on that victory last time, then I think he goes there with a great chance of recording back-to-back wins.

1:40 Bangor-On-Dee – Nine Nine Nine

Nine Nine Nine ran ok at Hereford the last day, but I just think the ground was a bit quick for him because even though it was described as good to soft, it rode more like genuine good ground. He’s a horse that takes his racing well and always wants to be on the go, so I don’t think the quick turnaround will be any problem for him, and I think he’s still on a very competitive mark.

I also think the combination of softer ground and a longer trip will definitely suit him here, so although he’d have a bit to find on recent form, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he took a decent step forward.

3:25 Bangor-On-Dee – Our Follet

Our Follet isn’t a horse I’ve ridden before, but I spoke to Richard Hobson about him the other day, and although his recent form has been poor, Richard seemed to think he was capable of running a big race here. He did win at Ffos Las last season, and that race hasn’t worked out too badly, so the ability is there, he just hasn’t shown it yet in his four starts this season. 

He’s now running off a 13lb lower mark than at the start of the season, and he wears cheekpieces for the first time here, so if they can prompt a bit of a return to form, then he looks very feasibly handicapped.