Top Jumps Jockey Sean Bowen returns to talk us through his rides for the weekend, along with his thoughts on the changes to the whip rules and his hopes for 2023. He also gives two horses he thinks have a good chance of winning the Tolworth Hurdle on Saturday, including one of the outsiders he’s keen on.
We have sponsored Sean for a while now, and we’re extremely excited to unleash his blog on site to give you an insight into the weighing room, the latest on his big weekend rides and opinion on all the big races! Follow Sean’s blog each week for his thoughts exclusively.
About Sean
At 25 years old Sean has now established himself as one of the top riders in UK Jumps racing. He was Champion Conditional Jockey in 2015 and has gone from strength-to-strength ever since. He won his first Grade 1 with on If The Cap Fits in 2019 in the Liverpool Hurdle, and his latest one was on Metier in the Tolworth Hurdle last season. Sean currently sits second in the Jump Jockey Championship.
My Rides This Weekend
PEEJAYBEE (1.50 Sandown – Saturday)
He won well here over hurdles last year and was put up 7lb for that performance. He’s dropped a few pounds in the ratings since and I thought his first run over fences was a good effort, considering it was over a shorter than ideal trip for him. Then on his most recent run his jumping was holding up well and I thought he was travelling nicely into the race, but he just tripped over the back of the 7th fence and went down.
He’s never had a problem jumping before and he has course form so I think he will have an each-way chance here. I’d imagine he will be a big price but I think he’s in with a small chance.
CROSSPARK (3.00 Sandown – Saturday)
He’s another one with an each-way chance. He’s a horse that I feel the handicapper hates – he kept going up in the ratings despite not winning. He’s back down to a mark of 142 now but that’s high enough for him! His jumping is excellent and he travels well, and he’s run some good races around Sandown too which is a big plus around here. I thought his reappearance run at Haydock was a good effort, he jumped well before eventually tiring after coming back from a long break. If he can progress from that he should be there with an each-way chance.
Snow Leopardess is one veteran who was still winning well last season, including the Becher Chase, so she’s obviously one in with a big chance. I like these Veteran races as they give those old favourites a chance of winning, as in a normal 3 mile handicap chase around Sandown they probably wouldn’t be in the first four!
Tolworth Hurdle Verdict
I think Authorised Speed is the worthy favourite in here. He goes on heavy ground, has won here before and I expect him to be difficult to beat. I do like the Paul Nicholls runner Tahmuras too, but he hasn’t ran around Sandown, which is a bit of a unique course on soft ground and he is yet to run on really testing ground. I do like him but I think it will be hard work for him, unlike Authorised Speed who has already got the experience around here and on testing ground.
One I did like at a bit of a price is Jamie Snowdon’s Colonel Harry, who made all in a maiden novice hurdle around here. The meeting was actually called off before the following race as the ground was so testing, so that was a performance worth noting. You know he will go out and make the running, and will keep going on the ground. I think he seems to be written off in the market a bit and could be in with a shout.
The ground is quite testing at the moment, which makes it hard work for the horses – it takes them longer to come out of a race when they’re running in testing conditions. There are horses that just love heavy ground, including Authorised Speed and Colonel Harry, and they’re the sort of horses you want to be riding at the moment.
Whip Rule Changes
I’m very happy that the forehand is back. I’ve had problems in the past (as plenty of other jockeys do) with reaching the backhand all the way back to the quarters – I’ve actually had three bans recently for hitting the horses short, where I’ve been trying to adapt myself to the new rules. Now we’ve got the forehand back I’ve wasted three bans there!
I think something had to be done with the bans, as you had some jockeys winning at all costs, despite knowing they would get a ban. Now they will get a proper ban and they’ll be thinking twice about doing it now. I think the bans increasing is right and the forehand coming back is the right move, so I’m happy with the changes in the rule.
2023 Targets
For jockeys our targets tend to be season to season, so my target for this season was to reach 100 winners. I’m not far off that (currently on 87 at time of writing), so if I can get there I’ll be delighted. Winners wise, you want as many as possible, but you also want some of the big wins too. It would be nice to get a Cheltenham Festival winner, which aren’t easy to come by but hopefully I should have some nice horses to ride.
One Horse I’m Looking Forward To Riding This Year
Noble Yeats is probably my best chance of riding a winner at The Festival at the moment so I would have to say him. He’s being aimed at the Gold Cup now and has proved himself to be a top class horse, whether that’s Gold Cup standard we don’t know yet! But he’s definitely the one I’m most looking forward to riding at the moment.
His connections are hoping to send him out once more before The Festival, at either the Lingfield Winter Millions meeting or the Cotswolds Chase. They were the two options when I last spoke to Emmet and Robert, but I haven’t spoken to them for a while so those plans may have changed.
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