Global Warning
Good morning from Newmarket. We have endured a difficult week so far, with more than one horse disappointing, but hopefully Global Warning heads to Newcastle today for the 2.45 today with good prospects.
We have discussed this horse’s pedigree many times before in this blog, but it is worth going over once again. James Fanshawe trained his dam Persario to win twice at up to seven-furlongs, and she has subsequently gone on to produce the Champion Sprinter Deacon Blues, the dual Gr.1 winning sprinter The Tin Man and the Stakes placed Holly Shiftwell, plus several other useful winners.
So it is a fast and classy pedigree, but our lad is by Poet’s Voice, and has never shown quite the blistering speed of his famous siblings at home and so has been campaigned at seven-furlongs so far (and remains at the same distance this afternoon). He is a useful horse in his own right, placing in two warm maidens last year, and then finishing an excellent third behind Daalick (who runs in the Listed Burradon Stakes today) on his comeback at Kempton last month. He will improve a good deal for the run.
That effort convinced me to stay at seven-furlongs, and he has since been allotted an opening mark of 77 which appears to be perfectly fair. We are stepping into handicap company for the first time with a horse that looks reasonably treated, and he has more scope to progress than the majority of his rivals. That said, taking on seasoned handicappers is never going to be easy for a young horse, and it could be that the stiff finish at Newcastle is a fraction more of a test than he would ideally appreciate at this stage of his development.
So we are taking something of a risk by taking on today’s challenge, but we have a good, progressive young horse, who hopefully has plenty more to give. Fingers crossed he puts his best foot forward and can be involved in the finish.
All the best,
Ed.