Shawaaheq
Good afternoon from Newmarket. Just the one runner for us to kick-start the week, with Shawaheeq taking his chance in the 6.15 at Leicester, a seven-furlong maiden.
A son of Tamayuz – a sire who hit the headlines at the weekend thanks to the brilliant Lockinge victory of Mustashry – Shawaheeq was a little disappointing on his racecourse debut at Kempton last November. However, he improved significantly on that performance when finishing fourth at Wolverhampton the following month, looking quite likely to win a couple of furlongs from home before tiring late on. The race has sent out mixed messages since, with only one winner emerging but a few of those ahead of him have run to a decent level.
That was over an extended mile, and he might well want to go back up to that sort of trip or a little further in time, but he is a handy little horse who shows some pace, so I am not concerned about stepping back to seven-furlongs today. He has been gelded since his last run, and took a little bit of time to get over the operation, but has come forward of late and is ready to get going again. He can be lazy in his work, so it is difficult to know exactly what to expect, but he will be handicapped after today’s outing and we need to learn more about him. The likes of Dubai Ice and Regular set a very stiff standard, but hopefully our horse can show some promise and won;t be too far away. Dane O'Neill will be in the saddle.
All the best,
Ed.