ISSUE 178 RACING AHEAD 23for this Godolphin-bred four-year-old
from the wider family of Urban Sea
and Anabaa Blue, but Micky Ham-
mond’s youngster jumps perfectly
soundly on the evidence so far, and
travelled stealthily through this race
before his reserves gave out.
Whilst he might be pitched at just
too high a mark for 0-100 class races
following this outing, a drop to 2m4f
or maybe even a furlong or two short-
er would give him the best
opportunity to make a winning start
in a slightly higher band of handicaps
next time.
FFOS LAS, 12 July (Good to
firm, good in places)
2m7f177yds 0-125 Handicap Chase
(class 3)
The evidence of a runaway success off
12lb lower at Leicester in January
(2m6.5f, good to firm), plus a 2l
second place to a thriving rival here
that represents every bit as good a
form effort, does rather point towards
TRIGGER NICHOL requiring a long,
galloping track and a quick surface to
be seen at his best as a staying chaser.
If so, that inevitably limits options
for the next couple of months to here,
Worcester and (perhaps to a lesser
extent) Uttoxeter, but a current low-
120s rating doesn’t remove them
outright, and it’s unlikely the bottom
has been reached improvement-wise
with Richard Newland’s seven-year-
old nephew of the high-class
Fundamentalist (RSA Hurdle, Novem-
ber Novices’ Chase) after just four
starts over fences.
Of those courses mentioned, a
switch to Newlands’ local track of
Worcester would particularly inter-
est, given a strike-rate at the time of
writing of 7-23 (30%) in chases at
the Pitchcroft over the past five
seasons.2m4f (+115yds) 0-125 Handicap
Hurdle (class 3)
The decision to return BALLON
ONABUDGET to novice/maiden com-
pany for his first two starts since a
winter break was nearly vindicated
here as, having been reassessed to a
more realistic 7lb lower mark, the
Arcadio gelding failed by only a neck
to add a first hurdling success to the
bumper win of his earlier Irish career.
It may worry a few that this consti-
tutes the second time in five hurdling
starts that a lead gained late on hasn’t
been held on to until the line, but an
irresistible rival from the in-form New-
land yard proved his downfall rather
than any attitude issues.
Tom George, sending out just his
third runner of the month at a habitu-
ally quiet time of year for him, won’t
have brought the six-year-old back in
for a summer campaign not to win
things, and compensation awaits at▲Amalfi
Doug