Dark Red went into the City and Suburban handicap on the back of a win at Chelmsford City in a competitive handicap. The son of Dark Angel had a frustrating campaign in 2015 but the Chelmsford win suggested that a gelding operation and a winter on his back had done him the world of good. He was soon travelling powerfully in behind the leaders under Franny Norton in the perfect position. As the field entered the home straight and moved across towards the near side Dark Red continued to travel noticably well and Franny Norton sent him for home between the two and three furlong pole. He hit the front at the two pole and gradually saw off the persistent Clayton but the well backed Royal runner Pacify was a persistent challenger into the final furlong. Dark Red drifted to his left in the final stages but kept finding for pressure and prevailed by three quarters of a length. What About Carlo was an eyecatching third as he finished with a late rattle to deny Clayton third.
It is fantastic for everyone at La Grange to win such a prestigious handicap and the prize money of twenty eight thousand pounds was very lucrative indeed. He was running from three pounds out of the weights but given the fantastic prize money Epsom were offering it seemed that running from out of the weights was a risk worth taking. Unfortunately the handicapper will not be kind to our gelding given he was three pounds wrong but we hope he does not treat him too harshly. We hope he can continue to progress and be competitive in some more nice handicaps as the season progresses.
Congratulations go to Mr Arculli who has now had three winners here at La Grange this season and we hope that he has many more throughout 2016. It is a great boost to the team and it is due to their hard work and dedication that wins like this are possible. Now that the ground is starting to dry we hope we can start to run more of the horses on turf and build on what has been a great start to the year.