Country Road

It was only a Cass 5 maiden in which Country Road finished third at Warwick last Monday, and he did only finish third, but there was a lot to like about his performance, and he could be one for the future. In front for the first couple of furlongs and always prominent, the Peter Chapple-Hyam colt took it up again off Obvious a half a mile from home. He looked the most likely winner passing the two-furlong pole, but he hung to his left away from Adrian McCarthy’s whip and down towards the far rail to the slowest of the ground. Once there, he couldn’t withstand the finishing surges of Mathaaq and Duke Of Burgundy, but he still kept on well. He is by Montjeu out of a half-sister to Grape Tree Road, and he can improve on this, just the second start of his life. He should get a mile and a half if he is ridden with more restraint.

31st August 2009