Final preparations are underway for one of our most popular meetings of the season, Ladies Day on Friday 26th August.
It’s the ultimate excuse to get dressed up in your most stylish outfits and enjoy live music from Liberty X and the S Club All-Stars. There’s also an appearance from the bare-chested beefcake beauties, the Million Dollar men. This is in addition to seven races from 1.35pm. Further information, including the numerous bus services to the track, is available on the website.
We also race on Thursday 25th August. The Bowen family must have been glad that a fortnight with no jump racing came to an end on Saturday. Between them they won four races at Perth.
Statuario, with one win and nine second places from 23 starts for the Peter Bowen yard, has been a frustrating sort. Coming third in the Summer Plate at Market Rasen last month showed he was on good form, and in a 2m4f novice chase he scrambled home by a neck with James Bowen in the saddle. His brother Sean (photographed) was doing his best to catch him on a Gordon Elliott horse, and that spurred the winner on to break the track record.
Roles were reversed an hour later, when the Elliott-Sean Bowen partnership won a 3m chase with Getaway Goldie, followed in by Peter Bowen’s Easy Bucks. The winner was conceding 26 pounds to the runner-up and her record this year is now 1121. Easy Bucks was coming off a 409 day break. His best form has been in the autumn.
Then Britzka repeated his course and distance win in a 2m handicap hurdle for Elliott and Bowen. The trainer said the horse can be a bit of a monkey, but Sean got him going the way he wanted and he was well on top at the end.
The treble for Elliott and Bowen came in the bumper. Finnthemagician looked done for half a mile out, last of four, under pressure and a long way behind the clear leader. But Bowen conjured up a great finishing effort, timed to perfection, and his mount stayed on strongly to get to the front in the final 50 yards.
At Ffos Las last Thursday Dora Penny kept up David Evans’ great winning streak with her 18th success in six weeks. Earlier that afternoon stablemate Wholetthedogsout, galvanised by first-time visors, took the lead in the last stride of the seven furlongs nursery. The filly is owned by Paul and Clare Rooney, who usually have a few two-year-olds with Evans, and he generally gets a win or two out of them. Their Good Vibes won three times, including a Group 3, in 2019. Wind Your Neck In won twice in 2021.
The Ffos Las victory was Dora Penny’s third in two and a half weeks. She also won at Windsor on Monday night. She’s what’s known as a filly in form!
