Ben Jones Saturday rides blog: 'I wouldn't be surprised if he's bang there with two out'

Ladbrokes ambassador Ben Jones has three rides at Cheltenham on Saturday, November 15. He previews them all in his latest blog and discusses his season so far.

• Bad - Cheltenham - 2.20 race odds

• French Ship - Cheltenham - 3.30 race odds

• Rock Sensation - Cheltenham - 4.00 race odds

What's next for Diva Luna?

It's been a strange week really, and I've had to take Thursday off just to recover from a fall I had at Lingfield on Tuesday - I was able to get to Bangor on Wednesday thanks to my Dad, who got dragged into it and drove me up there for two rides... luckily we had a good day there so he didn't mind too much! But I woke up sore on Thursday so have just taken the day off ahead of a busy weekend. I'll be fine, but I had a kick on the back of my ribs and back - no scans are needed or anything, thankfully, but let's just say I'm bruised!

Over the last two or three seasons, Diva Luna has always ran two or three times better in the spring... if she's running three times as good this spring, then all I can say is I wouldn't want to be up against her! She did things nicely earlier on this week against strong opposition who were all in similar boats, having their first runs over fences, and their first runs of the year. Ben [Pauling]'s tend to need a run in them to get up to full fitness, and I'd say looking at the field at Bangor everyone was around a similar par, so hopefully the best horse won there and we can continue that kind of form into the rest of the season.

In terms of the plan with her, I'd say the aim would be the Mares' at Cheltenham. There's a race at Warwick next month where I'd have thought everyone in that field at Bangor will be targeting now, and then we'll try and find something in January before going to Cheltenham.

The season so far (& 'unstoppable' Sean Bowen)

Honestly, we've had a great start to the season so far and already managed a lot of winners. In terms of what's working well for me, or what I'm doing differently, to be honest it's down to Ben [Pauling] and the form he's got his horses in. When they're in this type of form, you can take them anywhere and know you've got a chance of winning - you know, we turned up to Bangor earlier this week with a couple who were realistically second or third favourites in their races, and we came home with a double. When they're in that kind of form, you can get on a roll; it's just about sitting down, not falling off, and letting them do the work.

In terms of strike rates, and all that kind of thing, it's different because I'm riding pretty much all of Ben's now, whereas in the past, where I was maybe second or third for him, anything I was picking probably had a chance of winning. Now I'm riding more or less everything for him, so that includes a lot of horses who are 50/1 or 40/1 shots, who haven't really got a chance of winning.

They obviously bring your strike rate down, but I just think if I'm around the 15-20% mark, then I'm not doing too bad. I think at the moment, it's 19%, but overall for Ben it's 21%. I think I've had 470 rides for him now and I'm five or six winners away from having 100 winners just for him, which I think is pretty good considering I've only been number one for him for a year or two. I'm just grateful for the chances I'm given, and even more grateful that I'm able to get them over the line.

Then you've got someone like Sean Bowen, who if you're asking me to sum up in one word, I'd just say he's a machine. He's unstoppable - no matter what it is, he just never gives up. When he comes up beside you - like he did with me up in Carlisle the other day - you're just thinking 'oh no'. But then there's the flip side, where he might come up beside you and you're able to find a little bit more and can beat him. You take a lot of pleasure in that! But he is unstoppable, and is so mentally driven, I just don't think he's getting bored of the winners, which is bad for us but great for him I guess!

Cheltenham - Saturday

2.20 - Gold Cup Handicap Chase - Bad

I'm on Bad in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday, and to be honest, he's probably a horse who we don't really know how good he is yet, because he always holds a little bit back. He normally wears headgear at the start of his season, but we didn't put any on him this year in his first race back, just because we thought he might need the run as a bit of a stepping stone, really. But he went and delivered probably his career-best run at Kempton there. He jumped beautifully, travelled lovely and he was very game up to the last.

He's on a career-high mark but we wouldn't want too much more rain to come. If it goes to soft, we're hopeful he can cope with that. He's drifting a little bit in the betting now, and that's probably because of the rain. But if he turned up and said he wanted to do it, then I wouldn't be surprised if he's bang there with two out.

3.30 - Intermediate Handicap Hurdle - French Ship

French Ship is one I haven't had a lot to do with, to be honest. I rode him at Cheltenham the last day and had a really nice feel off him. He definitely had a little bit in hand, and is probably one who wouldn't have wanted soft ground in previous years. But the way he travelled the last day would suggest that softer ground might just help him out now that he's a little bit older, so I'm not really worried about that. If he can get into the same rhythm and jump like he did the last day, then hopefully he'll be bang there as well with a very good chance. 

4.00 - Cheltenham Guardians Safeguarding Team Mares' Open National Hunt Flat Race - Rock Sensation

I didn't ride Rock Sensation last time out, but I've got her in the last race of the day on Saturday. I rode her first time out, at the back end of last year where she was a little too keen and didn't see out the race. Callum [Pritchard] then rode her last time out at Southwell and dropped her in last, got her to switch off and she hit the line really strongly to win on that day. She's got a massive engine so it's all about doing things the right way with her. The good thing with Cheltenham is that there are a lot of runners, so we should be able to switch her off and take our time, and hopefully come up the hill in a stronger position than most. I'd say we'll just take our time and get her to see out the race nicely. She does her work well at home and we think a lot of her, so hopefully she shows the same form as she did at Southwell earlier this year.

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