Former champion jockey Peter Scudamore has drawn on cricketing legends to describe Ahoy Senor, his Betfair Chase contender, likening the nine-year-old to “a cross between Ian Botham and Ben Stokes, with a touch of Viv Richards.” The gelding, trained by Scudamore’s partner Lucinda Russell in Kinross, heads to Haydock on Saturday aiming to end a winless streak that stretches back to January 2023.
Despite the drought, Ahoy Senor ended last season with a close second to Gerri Colombe at Aintree and returned this term with a promising third at the same venue over two and a half miles, staying on strongly in the closing stages.
Scudamore used a cricket analogy to shed light on the horse’s development:
“He’s like a kid who bashes runs at a lower level but needs better technique when stepping up. I think we’ve let him bash away, and now it’s about refining his approach. His run at Aintree gives me hope—he settled better and finished strongly. Now it’s up to him to do the talking.”
He added:
“I see him as a mix of Botham, Stokes, and Viv Richards. Watching Ahoy Senor in the paddock is like seeing Viv walk to the crease—full of charisma. Like Botham, he’s brilliant but has his quirks. It’s a fun way to explain him to people.”
Looking ahead to the Betfair Chase, Scudamore expressed cautious optimism but noted the importance of suitable ground conditions for Ahoy Senor’s jumping.
“He’s better on good ground, which is unusual for a horse of his size, but he did win the Cotswold Chase on soft. Ideally, we’d want good or good to soft—he jumps better with a little bounce.”
With Ahoy Senor showing signs of improvement and carrying an air of cricketing greatness, connections remain hopeful the Haydock outing could be the turning point in his season.