Although Haiti Couleurs hasn't made the trip to Leopardstown for the Irish Gold Cup this Monday, Coral Racing Ambassador, Sean Bowen, remains in Ireland for the postponed second day of the Dublin Racing Festivall! Check out his thoughts on his four rides on the first day of the Festival below.

I am excited to be riding at the Dublin Racing Festival this weekend, these are the meetings you want to be involved in as a jockey. The atmosphere at Leopardstown for the DRF is electric, and I am sure it will be no different this weekend.

Unfortunately, I won’t be partnering Haiti Couleurs in the Irish Gold Cup. Rebecca Curtis informed me on Thursday morning that they had some logistical issues with the boat, which would have made the trip to Dublin a long one which is a real shame, but there will be big days ahead with him. Rebecca is now planning on running him in the Denman Chase at Newbury next weekend and that will be his final prep run before the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

13:15 Leopardstown – Santo Sospir

After back-to-back victories at Punchestown and Clonmel, respectively, Santo Sospir is stepping up to Grade 1 level for the first time. Gordon Elliott clearly thinks a lot about the horse for him make that leap into this company but I watched his victory at Clonmel, and he did it very comfortably.

Willie Mullins’ runner, Doctor Steinberg, looks to be one to beat on paper following his Grade Two success at Navan. However, my horse should be open to further improvement, and this is a great opportunity to start the meeting with a winner. He's my best chance of the day.

13:50 Leopardstown – Immediate Effect

Immediate Effect had some decent form on the Flat when with Sir Mark Prescott and then he made a winning start over hurdles at Punchestown as a three-year-old, where he appeared to be staying on strongly at the finish, which is a good sign. This is just his second start over obstacles, so he will need to take a huge step forward to score in a Grade 1.

Gordon Elliott has three runners in this race, with Mange Tout being his best chance but I think we will all have to beat Narciso Has, who is a course and distance winner here. He looked very good when winning over the festive period.

14:25 Leopardstown – Barra Rua

Barra Rua broke her maiden at Tramore earlier this season and then has struggled a little in graded company but she drops down to Listed level here, so that may help a little. The betting suggests she's up against it, but you can never discount anything that's trained by Emmet Mullins.

15:30 Leopardstown – Firefox

Although I am disappointed not to be riding Haiti Couleurs in the Irish Gold Cup, it is great to still be involved in the race with Firefox. I rode this horse at Ascot in a graduation chase back in December where we finished second behind Iroko. He made a mistake at the penultimate fence, and that just took it out of him.

This horse ran to a very high level over hurdles, finishing third in the Supreme and second in Grade One races at Aintree and Punchestown. His form over fences as a novice chaser has also been good, with solid performances in the Drinmore Novice Chase and WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse.

I know the task we face here, taking on Galopin Des Champs, Affordale Fury, Inothewayurthinkin and others. He is up against it on ratings, but that said he is a talented horse and if the race is run to suit, he may be capable of picking up some nice prize money and outrunning those odds.

Sean Bowen, Coral Racing Ambassador