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

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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