The Notebook

Horses who performed well in defeat...

I think there was a fair deal of promise from ANGEL HUNTER who came third in a useful maiden at Haydock on Sunday. The reason I say this is that he seemed almost flat out from the start, never being able to settle into the race, and running as fast as he could for six furlongs. Despite this, he ran on well in the closing stages, finishing a never nearer third. On all three of his runs to date, he has run to an RPR of 83, showing there is a good level of ability under his bonnet, he just needs to take this form to the next level. A return to seven furlongs seems imminent to allow this horse to showcase his stamina and travel better throughout the race and utilise the speed he has.

Over at Haydock, Jim Goldie’s yard continued their excellent run of form with two seconds from LETSBEFRANK and American Affair. Turning our attention to the former, Letsbefrank is enjoying a fruitful season and this progressive four-year-old bravely rallied to finish second in a class 3 contest. A strong stayer, we have seen further improvement as he’s tackled further, highlighting his versatility and will to win. He got headed on this latest occasion but bravely battled back to almost get his head back in front, and there seems plenty more left in the tank.

Hamad Al Jehani has a good amount of firepower in the early stages of his UK-based training career and has a nice horse on his hands with MIDNIGHT GUN. In the Coral Kincsem Handicap, there was a thrilling finish which saw Midnight Gun finish third, with the first four horses finish within a length of each other. The third showed some really smart form for Ed Walker, finishing ahead of some decent horses in Condor Pasa and Mythical Guest. He shapes as though he may have the highest ceiling of the runners, despite having no excuses for not winning this time. It will be exciting to see where this promising colt heads next.

BILLBOARD STAR has enjoyed a good season to date and ran better than his fourth place suggests in the Richmond Stakes. It was a competitive race on paper, and Eve Johnson Houghton’s two-year-old was on the front end in the thick of the action. Whilst under pressure from his rivals in the closing stages, he got squeezed out, and lost third place as a result. His piece of form behind Whistlejacket on his penultimate run is strong, and the form received a nice boost when the third place, Aomori City, won the Vintage Stakes earlier in the week. An extra furlong may see this horse in an even better light, and hopefully he can continue his good form into his three-year-old season.