David Probert rode a double on Newmarket’s July Course on Friday. He began on an Andrew Balding juvenile having its second start, The Lost King. The colt came on tremendously for his first run a few weeks earlier when he was green and finished ninth, but not beaten too far. This time, as Probert explained, “He got an easy lead out there today and kept on finding. He'll be a lovely middle-distance horse for next year.”
Later he won on Paul and Oliver Cole’s improving handicapper Great Chieftain, the horse’s third win in his last four races. He battled on gamely to retain a lead of a short head at the line, but it was hard work for Probert; his mount jinked right on leaving the stalls and hung left when making his effort a furlong out.
ITV News Wales sent a reporter to cover Ladies Day at Ffos Las on Friday, where a large crowd was greeted with blustery winds, but more importantly, sunshine.
It was the day that Gina Mangan lost her claim, riding Alioski to win the 1m2f classified stakes. Welsh trainers have been good for her over the years, for David Evans and Christopher Mason have been her main providers of winners. Alioski’s success was Mangan’s 25th this season, equalling her previous personal best. Her career has been punctuated by various setbacks – after one injury there was a possibility that one of her feet might have to be amputated – but with persistence she has accumulated the 95 winners necessary to become a fully-fledged jockey.
Joshua Bryan rode the winner of the second on the card on Eternal Elixir, an Archie Watson two-year-old who appreciated the heavy going and the full seven furlongs of the race. He had to work in the penultimate furlong to shake off two rivals, but pulled four lengths clear from that point. Bryan started in racing employed at his uncle Peter Bowen’s stable before turning to the flat. He, like David Probert ten years earlier, used to be an apprentice with Andrew Balding.
It’s rare for a Cartmel meeting to pass without a Bowen winner and in the case of Saturday’s it came in the very first race, when Sean rode Olly Murphy’s Bowling Buddy to victory. The 8/15 shot had won an Irish point in May before joining his current yard. He was second at Uttoxeter last month and won this Cartmel race readily, making most of the running and jumping well.
Later Lermoos Legend ran third for the Bowen yard, who were hoping for better things on Monday, when he was declared to run there again with four stablemates. They sent Francky Du Berlais over to Killarney for a decent pot on Saturday, but he ran no sort of race. The veteran, now eleven, hasn’t won for two years and is going to need a bit more help from the handicapper before he can break that sequence.
