Charminamix

Another horse to take out of the 10-furlong Class 2 handicap at York on Tuesday, as well as the winner Royal Destination, was the the Tony Martin horse Charminamix. Restrained early on by Richard Hughes from his ideal draw in stall two (Mull Of Killough, who was due to come out of stall one, was a non-runner), he was a little keen through the early throes on the rail, and he didn’t actually drop the bridle until they had gone about three furlongs. Once settled, he travelled well before getting a little keen again turning for home. Hughes followed the leader Yorgunnabelucky towards the far rail on straightening up as the field fanned out towards the centre, and he was still travelling easily at the three-furlong pole. Indeed, he and the winner were the only two who hadn’t been asked to quicken as they passed the three-furlong pole. Hughes sat still and waited for a gap, but just when he wanted to move up and challenge the leader on the far side, Full Speed arrived up on his outside and kept him in. Hughes perservered with the inside run and looked to have found a gap to the far side of Full Speed, but that horse moved to his left and closed it off. Hughes had to stop riding and snatch up a little to pull his horse outside that rival, but by that stage they were passing the furlong pole, and Stevie Thunder and Royal Destination were starting to roll towards the middle of the course. Charminamix did get going again and he picked up nicely once he had built his momentum back up, but Hughes wasn’t overly hard on him once his winning chance had gone, no doubt mindful of his handicap mark for the future, and he ran on before being eased to finish sixth. He doesn’t have the progressive profile that the winner does, but he is a good bit better than this, and he can win a similar contest off this type of mark.

18th August 2009