Tibr in March
Dutch Uncle headed into the Lingfield ten furlong handicap last Saturday on the back of three solid placed efforts in 2016. He had been second in the Rosebery before a third at Lingfield and a recent second at Windsor. No one wanted to go on in the early stages and so Silvestre De Sousa soon had Dutch Uncle setting sensible fractions at the head of affairs. He kicked for home off of the final bend and whilst the favourite closed during the final stages, Dutch Uncle had already made the decisive move and he won comfortably by a length.
This was a deserved win for the son of Dutch Art who was third behind Time Test in the London Gold Cup a year ago. Given the turn of foot that he has been able to show we may even drop him back in trip to a mile come June. The handicapper is likely to raise him to a mark in the high eighties for this victory but he cannot be too harsh as our gelding got the run of the race at the front of affairs and the winning margin was only one length come the finish.
Tibr was making his debut in the five furlong Novice Stakes at the end of the Lingfield card on Saturday. Whilst he has shown us speed at home we felt he would improve for six furlongs in time. He missed the break fractionally but he was soon tracking the early leaders. He found when he was asked to go and win the race and showed a very professional attitude to beat Poet's Society by one length.
Given he was not stopping at the finish line six furlongs does look well within his compass. The second and third both had the benefit of a run so it was really pleasing that he was able to overcome his inexperience on a difficult track and win the race. We will now see how he comes out of this race before making further plans with him going forward.
Congratulations to both Mr Arculli and Mr Al Naboodah who own Dutch Uncle and Tibr respectively. Mr Arculli had three winners from his three runners last week and Tibr was Mr Al Naboodah's first runner from La Grange in 2016. It has been a big team effort and the recent sunshine has given everyone a big lift. We hope the recent good form can continue as we look forward to a busy week ahead.