Global Gift
Good morning from Newmarket. We watched the action from the sidelines yesterday, but we do have a Sunday runner in the form of Global Gift, who takes his chance in the 4.00 at Pontefract.
This horse has been one of our undoubted stars of the season so far, only making his debut in March and going on to rack up three consecutive victories between the end of May and the end of June in competitive mile handicaps. Unfortunately his winning sequence came to an end at Newmarket last time out, although there were excuses.
Admittedly the race saw him up in grade and racing from a mark in the 90s for the first time - and perhaps he simply wasn’t up to it - but the ground dried out markedly on the day and was far too quick for him. We are in danger of a similar scenario today, as Pontefract are drying out from good to soft as we speak, but hopefully they will retain enough ease and we will get away with it.
This is quite naturally a competitive 0-95 handicap, and the unbeaten Global Hunter and the progressive Dalaalaat set a very stiff standard, whilst none of the other combatants can easily be discounted. However, we have been toying with the idea of stepping this horse up in trip, and a stiff mile around Pontefract should tell us plenty more about him in that regard. Hopefully his latest run was simply a blip on fast ground and he can resume his progress this afternoon. It certainly looks like a good opportunity for us to find out more about the horse and can help us map out the rest of his season. Ben Curtis takes the ride.
Best wishes,
Ed.