Gordon Glitters Again!
The Apprentice Jockeys Championship is just as exciting, with feisty Josephine Gordon relentlessly pursuing Tom Marquand.
She hit the ground running on Monday, with a brace of wins at Wolverhampton. First she landed the spoils with Prancelina (a 16/1 shot!), before following-up with Brick Lane later in the day.
Gordon then had to wait until Saturday, for another victory, but it will have been a sweet one. Baydar secured a huge cash windfall for connections, by winning the rich Dubai Duty Free Handicap at Newbury.
Marquand’s only winner came on Monday. Overlord (8/1) stayed-on well to thwart Iballisticvin in the first race at Kempton.
Marquand still has 3 more victories under his belt than Gordon, but he’ll be looking over his shoulder now for sure. Can he handle the pressure, or will he get mown down by Juggernaut Josie?
Tough-Nut Tommy, Refuses To Crack
It was fantastic to see Tommy Dowling back in action, at the weekend. The conditional rider suffered terrible injuries, when falling at Fontwell in April.
As well as sustaining various injuries to his back, he also broke ribs, his collarbone and also fractured his shoulder.
It’s testament to his bravery that Dowling is racing competitively again, after less than 5 months.
The story gets even better though, as the 24-year-old did more than just make up the numbers at Plumpton. A terrific ride aboard Baltic Storm saw the pair land the spoils, in Sunday’s opener!
“I’m just so relieved – I’ve been going out of my mind for the last couple of months sitting on the sidelines,” said Dowling.
“I’m delighted for the guv’nor that his horses are winning, but there is nothing as hard as watching horses that are winning when you should be riding. It’s been killing me!
“When I winged the last and we’d definitely got over I was just, like, ‘Brilliant’. It’s just a weight off your shoulders!”
Crowley In Scrap With Sousa The Bruiser
Natural-born winners, such as Silvestre de Sousa, simply refuse to accept defeat and Jim Crowley will have woken-up this morning knowing that he still has a big fight on his hands in this season’s Flat Jockeys Championship.
Between Monday and Sunday, de Sousa notched no less than 12 winners and that means the title is very-much up for grabs again.
Victories with Precious Plum, Highland Lotus, Abrahams Blessing, Muthmira, Basil Berry, Highly Sprung, Kiltara, Johnny B Goode, Leah Freya and Southdown Lad were all achieved before the weekend had even got underway.
On Saturday, de Sousa went hunting at Catterick and a cosy win in the curtain-raiser (on Tibr) provided the perfect start.
His only other winner came on-board the odds-on Masarzain, in the 6th race. Owen Burrows inmate began the race as the odds-on favourite, but was pushed very close by Strong Force.
Jim Crowley’s 9 winners comprised Trading Punches, Shypen, Curriculum, Blushes, Just An Idea, Impulsive American, Swiss Storm, Algometer (G3 Legacy Cup Stakes) and Kiringa.
This is turning into a terrific battle. Check-out the latest odds on both Silvestre de Sousa and Jim Crowley, now!
