Asset

It was disappointing on the face of it that Asset couldn’t win the Group 3 Supreme Stakes at Goodwood on Saturday, but there were mitigating circumstances. They went a really fast pace and Asset travelled wide most of the way. He saw lots of daylight, but he travelled really well and looked by far the most likely winner at the two-furlong pole. Indeed, if you didn’t know Asset you would have said that he was home for all money when Ted Durcan asked him to go and win his race a furlong and a half out. But Asset is not a horse who finds a lot when he hits the front, as we saw when he hit the front on the far side in the Wokingham before getting run down by High Standing inside the last 100 yards, and he is probably better over six furlongs anyway than over this seven, and he got caught again here by the ultra tough Ordnance Row, who was the first horse off the bridle, and who had actually finished third in the Celebration Mile the previous day.

They are talking about running Asset in the Sprint Cup at Haydock this Saturday now, and that is interesting. High Standing is favourite for that but, on form, there should be nothing between him and Asset. High Standing beat Asset by less than a length in the Wokingham, but Asset will be 12lb better off if he takes his chance on Saturday. Okay, so High Standing is progressive, he looked good in landing a Group 3 contest since, and it looks like Asset has been disappointing in two runs since the Wokingham. However, you can easily forgive him both. He went to Deauville after Ascot to contest the Prix Maurice de Gheest, and finished ninth of the 12 runners. But he raced on the stands rail that day at Deauville, and that wasn’t where you wanted to be. The field split into two groups in that race, with six horses racing down the centre of the track and six horses racing on the stands rail. The six horses who raced down the centre of the track filled six of the first seven places, so it is easy to excuse Asset that run. You don’t want to be making too many excuses for horses, and there is no doubting that Asset has to have things his own way in order to be effective, but he is a classy animal on his day, and he could be allowed go off at a massive price in the Sprint Cup on Saturday if he takes his chance. If he doesn’t run on Saturday, he is still worth keeping in mind for another day. He could be under-rated now.

30th August 2009