Sean bags a treble on day of home wins

IT was great to be back racing on Monday at Ffos Las – our first fixture for a month.

We had eight races which surprisingly took place on good to soft ground despite the deluge of rain we had over the weekend.

Welsh trainers and jockeys ruled the roost, kicking off with a double for Sean and Peter Bowen.

They took the opening novices’ hurdle with Equus Dancer and followed up with Lermoos Legend in the handicap chase over two miles.

Sean rode a third winner of the afternoon aboard Minella Bobo for trainer Rebecca Curtis, who was also successful in the fourth race with Geordie Des Champs, who was sent off at the generous odds of 18-1.

Adam Wedge was in the saddle on the latter, who is owned by JP McManus.

Wedge also went on to secure a double when Marble Man won the first division of the three-mile handicap chase for trainer Evan Williams, denying Robin of Sherwood, who is part-owned by Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies.

Another trainer based in Wales, Robert Stephens, got on the scoresheet when Tudors Treasure took the second division.

The closing bumper provided a 33-1 surprise winner in the shape of Timeforatune, ridden by Robbie Dunne and trained near Brecon by Brian Eckley.

There were also Welsh successes over the weekend led by Arcade Attraction at Ludlow. The Evan Williams-trained gelding has won twice over fences at Ffos Las but on Sunday he was successful over hurdles under Niall Moore.

Trainer Sheila Lewis has a very consistent mare on her hands in the shape of Cotton End. The seven-year-old had been off the track since December but that didn’t make any difference at Ludlow as she won from Glory And Fortune. Ben Jones was in the saddle.

We are hoping to see progress on the return of spectators in the coming days and weeks.

Boris Johnson has approved customers to racecourses in England from next Monday. Carlisle and Redcar will be the first to welcome back the paying public.

We race at Ffos Las on the same day but we will be operating without the public in attendance. Racehorse owners will be allowed to attend with numbers limited to six people per horse. One positive is they will be allowed inside the grandstand, which hasn’t been the case up to this point.