Ben Ffrench Davis rides first jumps winner of the season after half of four-runner juvenile field refuse

Ben Ffrench Davis kept his cool in an incident-packed fillies’ juvenile maiden hurdle to ride his first winner over jumps since March on Bramble Jelly.

Half of the four hurdling debutantes refused in the 1m7½f contest with Edna E Mode’s and I Love Paris’s races coming to an end at the second and third hurdle respectively.

Ffrench Davis’s mount had to be rousted into most of her obstacles but displayed a good attitude after the last to fend off the challenge of 7-4 favourite Remarkable Flight by two-and-a-quarter lengths.

“She made hard work of it,” said Ffrench Davis. “All of her schooling has been getting a lead or bang upsides one and when no one wanted to make the running, I sort of knew my fate.

“She was jamming the brakes on coming down to hurdles, so I just had to get the revs up high enough.”

The 11-2 winner is owned and trained by Ffrench Davis’s father, Dominic, who initially booked Harry Bannister to partner the daughter of Soldier’s Call before his son stepped in to get off the mark on his 15th jumps ride of the season.

Murphy magic

No trainer saddled more jumps winners at Leicester last season than Olly Murphy. Woodland Park got him on the board at the track’s first jumps fixture of the campaign when landing the 2m4½f maiden hurdle.

Winning rider Sean Bowen was given a four-day ban for improper riding after the stewards deemed him to have manoeuvred Woodland Park right-handed when insufficiently clear of eventual fourth Je Viens Du Large when approaching the second-last.

Bowen helped The Wolf defy a 7lb penalty for last Tuesday’s win at Huntingdon in the following 2m6½f handicap chase before steering Northern Reel to her first success over fences to complete a treble for Murphy, who had reached 50 winners for the season with Vocito’s victory at Plumpton.

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