Sean Bowen: He’s always been a horse both myself and Olly have loved

He’s not a horse I’ve ridden before, but it’s always nice to pick up a spare ride for Brian Ellison. He pulled up on his first run of the season at Carlisle last week, but that was over fences, so hopefully this return to hurdling will spark some improvement. He also wears the blinkers for the first time, but they will need to have the desired effect for him if he’s going to bounce back from that disappointing run last week.

2.15 Ayr – Vintage Fizz

He’s another horse I’ve never ridden before, but he definitely comes here with a solid chance on some of his best form. He had a few traffic problems on the way round at Market Rasen last time, so that was probably a better run than it looked when finishing sixth in quite a competitive race.

He has a good record over these intermediate trips, and he’s still pretty unexposed over fences, so even though he carries top weight here, I’d hope he can go close this weekend.

2.53 Ayr – Transatlantic

Transatlantic is a new recruit to Olly’s yard having joined us from Gary Moore, but he has been off the track for quite some time now. His work and the way he’s schooled at home would suggest he could be on a nice mark off 115, so I’ll be interested to see how he gets on this weekend.

He has some decent form in France, and he also won a novice hurdle at Huntingdon last year, so he has plenty of ability, but as I say it is his first run for a long time. I think he’ll definitely win races off this sort of mark, but we’ll be hoping he can have a positive experience on his reappearance, and I’d be hopeful that he’ll improve on whatever he does this weekend.

3.28 Ayr – Chasing Fire

I can’t wait to ride Chasing Fire again, and he’s always been a horse that both myself and Olly Murphy have loved. He took on some good opposition last season running in the Supreme and a few other hot races, but Olly has wasted no time going chasing with him, and we think this will be his game.

It was a really nice start to win at Uttoxeter last time, and I was very happy with the way he jumped that day. He has schooled well at home since too, and I think the way he put his head down and battled at Uttoxeter was really encouraging, so he’s a horse we know has a good attitude.

He stayed really well at Uttoxeter last time, so I think in time he’ll end up going up in trip in time, but I suspect we’ll probably stick at two miles while we can still get away with it.

4.04 Ayr – Junker D’Allier

Junker D’Allier makes his debut in the bumper, and there are 15 horses all making their racecourse debuts here, so it’s difficult to know what to expect to be honest.

He’s a well-bred son of Kapgarde out of a Poliglote mare, so he makes plenty of appeal on paper, and everything he has done at home has been positive. He’s also had a racecourse gallop too, so that experience of travelling to the racecourse and being out on the track hopefully won’t be lost on him, and we’re hoping he can make a nice start to his career.

Sean

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