Horses are beautiful animals but they can also be incredibly dangerous and it was terrible to hear of the tragedy at Kempton park last night. Everyone in the racing community is thinking of everyone closely involved and it is extremely sad that someone dedicated to our sport has lost their life in such tragic circumstances.
Dark Red got his head in front for the second time this year at York yesterday but this time we thankfully kept the race. The blinkers worked well and he showed everyone what he shows us often at home. If the midweek rain arrives at Ascot and it’s nice ground, I may run him in the Balmoral if he comes out of the race well. The trip will be his absolute minimum but they will go a fast gallop which will suit him and the uphill finish won’t be a hinderance over a mile. Agar’s Plough was a little disappointing but the ground quickened through the day and his jockey thought he would appreciate more cut in the ground. Opposition ran a very good race in the two mile handicap and he would have been closer from a better draw. He had to use up some petrol to get to the leaders and it just told late on in the race.
Michael’s Mount is our only runner today. The ground is slowly drying out at Goodwood and I would imagine it will be good to soft by the time we run but that should be soft enough for him to let himself down. He goes through very soft ground when others may not handle it so we would have preferred the ground to have been softer but he should run his race once more. Machine Learner may not win as often as a horse of his talent should but he heads to Goodwood on terrific form and was only just denied in a red hot handicap last time. These are calmer waters for him and he should go very close. Tartini is talented and Teofonic came back to form last time. Shabbah has lost his way a little but was a progressive three year old whilst Jacob Cats has put a couple of consistent efforts together lately. Aussie Reigns has won a Listed race in the past and is a horse with ability but he needs a change of scenery to ignite some spark and Plutocracy needs to step up on a promising run on the all-weather to win here. It's a small field for fantastic prize money but it’s a competitive handicap and it promises to be an intriguing contest, I hope our horses continues on his recent upward curve and is thereabouts at the finish.