'He's a fantastic horse, it's lovely to see him bounce back' - Bielsa is kicking again

Two days after his namesake returned from the wilderness, Bielsa the racehorse bounced back himself to end a ten-race losing run.

Marcelo Bielsa was appointed Uruguay manager on Monday, his first job since he was sacked by Leeds United in February last year.

The equine version had been without a victory since landing the Ayr Gold Cup in 2021 but had shaped well when second on his reappearance at Redcar last month and went one place better under Oisin Murphy here, holding off Lethal Levi by a neck in the £40,000 6f handicap.

His trainer Kevin Ryan said: "He maybe got there a bit too soon on him but it was nice to see him win a nice prize. He's been a great horse, he likes it here and he came back in very well after his winter break, better than he ever has.

"His comeback run was quite encouraging and we hoped he'd build on that. He's a fantastic horse, it's lovely to see him bounce back. Life can be tough for these sprinters."

Ryan is an ardent Leeds fan himself and hopes Sam Allardyce can work his magic and save the team from Premier League relegation. 

"I think Big Sam has definitely tightened them up a bit in defence and they should have had a result against Newcastle, we have to cut out the silly mistakes," he said.

Ryan doubled up on the day when 190,000gns purchase Mon Na Slieve set up a Royal Ascot bid with an impressive debut victory in the 5f novice.

"We really wanted him at the breeze-ups and we were so confident as he's a very laid back horse," he said. "He was highly-recommended and Royal Ascot is what we've bought him for. He's very fast."

Nothing fishy about Scampi 

Scampi was introduced at 16-1 for the Sky Bet Ebor when causing a minor surprise with victory in the opening 1m4f Jorvik Handicap.

The Andrew Balding-trained five-year-old put a disappointing run at Epsom last time behind him with a half-length success under Hayley Turner.

The trainer's wife and assistant Anna Lisa Balding said: "It looked very difficult as it was a top-class handicap, but he was in good form at home and really deserved that. He travelled into the race so well."

The son of Nayef was cheered in by more than a dozen owners via Raceshare, with many more celebrating elsewhere. 

Balding added: "I'm thrilled for all of the owners as they're genuine, passionate people and my phone has not stopped buzzing with people now saying they're a winning owner. I think a few of my staff had shares too!"

Levey love-in

Newly married Sean Levey was still in the honeymoon period when Dark Thirty made all for a narrow success in the 7f handicap.

"The wedding was good," he said. "I was confident seven furlongs was going to be best for him. He was a bit of a handful last time at Newmarket over a mile but he settled better today. I was pleased as he stuck on really well and he kept on going."

Kihavah again

Kihavah made it successive wins in the 1m4f handicap with a game victory under Tom Marquand.

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