A serious disappointment from Winker, coming fourth of five in a race that was several leagues below the class of race he was running in last year. It’s hard to know what to think – his most recent work on the gallops had been exceptional (Alan, who is generally quite pessimistic, described it as proper group 1 work). We’ve found no indications that anything is wrong. We just have to hope that it was a one-off, but he has a lot to prove now.
The positive was Maxwell Hawke winning his maiden. He did the job nicely enough – he didn’t win by much but may have been value for a little more. He’ll come on for the run and will probably go for a decent handicap now. He still has plenty to prove but he’s shown himself capable of winning and that’s nice to know.
Swindon disappointed, and again looked unlucky with the stats suggesting that they were on top for most of the match. The other results were fair for us and we may not have lost much ground.
Marine Boy takes his chance next, and looks to have an honest chance. The Free Handicap is typically a pretty good race and the winner generally turns out to be group class. Marine Boy’s mark of 109 is nothing to get excited about but he’s got a fair bit of size about him and shouldn’t be anchored by a bit of extra weight. He wasn’t right after his first run last season, but he should be getting back to his best now. Tom is happy with him – he hasn’t come in his coat yet, which is a small concern, but his gallops work is plenty good enough.