Sean Bowen Monday rides blog: 'I am sure she has plenty of improvement in her'

Sean Bowen, in his latest Coral blog, has previewed his four rides at Newbury for Coral Challow Hurdle Day. He has also reflected on Boxing Day at Kempton.

Golden Falls - Newbury - 12:05 race odds

Pleasington - Newbury - 13:15 race odds

Scorpio Rising - Newbury - 14:22 race odds

Harsh - Newbury - 15:35 race odds

12.05 – Golden Falls

This three-year-old filly was a winner over hurdles in France before moving to the UK. She struggled a little on her opening start at this course, and although she has been eased 5lb for that, based on the run, her handicap mark probably looks harsh.

We are hoping she can bounce back to what she showed in France. She is still young, and I am sure she has plenty of improvement in her.

1.15 – Pleasington 

Pleasington ran well at Wetherby two starts back, and then, for whatever reason, he was disappointing when stepping up in trip at Aintree, which we did not see coming. We have dropped him back to 2m here, and he has been successful twice before over this trip.

I think Olly Murphy’s horses are now running much better than they did when this horse last appeared. I do expect to see a better performance from him than we saw at Aintree.

2.22 Scorpio Rising

Scorpio Rising improved a lot for his second straight success last time at Lingfield. That came on his handicap debut. He jumped well and travelled strongly throughout. He is a horse who looks to be on the up, so I think he can defy this 8lb rise in the ratings. This is my best chance of the day. 

3.35 – Harsh 

This will be Harsh’s first run for Mickey after arriving from Gordon Elliott’s yard. He was successful twice over hurdles in Ireland, and he has produced a couple of good runs over fences. Hopefully, the change in scenery will have helped and he can put in a good showing.

Boxing Day Reflections 

It was fantastic to ride a winner at Kempton on Boxing Day in the opening race with Barlovento. I think he will be winning some bigger prizes later in the campaign. He is a very good novice chaser.

Obviously, I am gutted to miss out on victory in the big race by such a small margin with Banbridge. We travelled smoothly throughout. Unfortunately, there were four of us with a good chance after the last, and The Jukebox Man just found more in the closing stages. Congratulations to Ben Jones and all the connections of the horse. Hopefully, I will be back next year, and I can go one place better, but for now, there are still some big prizes to be won over the festive and new year period.

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