Sean Bowen Saturday rides blog: 'He is an absolute dude of a horse'

Although Cheltenham is just around the corner, I’ve still got plenty of work to do before Tuesday, so I can’t be distracted by thoughts of the Festival yet.  I have to treat each day as just another day, and really that’s how I try to approach Cheltenham, just another week riding, although of course it isn’t.

This card on Saturday is an important one in its own right, and I’ll be riding on Sunday too. I might actually take Monday off to be completely fresh for Cheltenham, although I’ll have to see what my agent has to say about that!  

Sandown 1.50 – Scorpio Rising

Olly Murphy has two runners in both of the races I ride for him, but I didn’t really have a difficult decision to make in terms of who I ride in both.  Scorpio Rising has progressed all season, winning all three of his starts, and should head here as favourite.

He’s gone up 15 pounds for his last two wins, but I think he’s still progressing, and I don’t know where the ceiling of his ability is, but I don’t think we’re there yet, so I’m hopeful of another big performance.

Olly’s other runner, Gee Force Flyer, is a nice horse in his own right, he’s run well this year without winning, and he’ll be an outsider here, so hopefully he can outrun his odds for the team.

Sandown 2.27 – Go Dante

Go Dante is a horse I love, having won the last two runnings of this race, he is an absolute dude of a horse. For some reason he absolutely loves Sandown, it's the only course he ever runs a decent race at now, and I honestly don't know why it suits him so much.  He won here earlier in the season, and though he has run poorly at Windsor and Newbury since, that wouldn’t bother me.

He has to carry a couple of pounds more than when he won here in December and he's five pounds higher than when he won the race last year, but he simply seems to be ten pounds better off here than he is at any other course.  So he loves the race, and he loves the place, so I see no reason why he can’t go well.

Fingle Bridge hasn't quite taken to chasing so he's been switched back to hurdles, and despite carrying top weight here I think he could still be a well handicapped horse. He just might lack the experience needed for these big field handicaps but he's more than capable of running a big race.

Sandown 4.45 – First Angel

I rode First Angel on his last run, that was a winning one at Taunton but was well over a year ago now so clearly he's had a few issues.  He's a horse that tends to need his first run as well, and although there are only four runners here, a couple of them are in good form so this is not an easy looking reappearance.  I’m sure he’ll improve plenty for the run, and is one to keep an eye on for his next start.

Sean Bowen will also be in action at Cheltenham next week. Check out the latest Cheltenham Festival betting odds with Ladbrokes.

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