Johannes

The winner Kaldoun Kingdom’s stable companion Johannes was one of the eye-catchers for me in the six-furlong Coral Sprint at York on Saturday. Well enough away, Frederik Tylicki was happy to allow the Richard Fahey-trained gelding settle in behind the front rank on the far side in the early stages. They bunched up a bit on the far side through the first couple of furlongs, and he probably got shuffled back a little further than he wanted to. Much nearer last than first passing the two-furlong pole, he was still travelling well and looking for racing room a furlong and a half out. He did pick up when Tylicki went for him and, switched towards the far side, he was running on better than most, but he had a wall of horses in front of him and the gap between Green Manalishi and Quest For Success that he anticipated never materialised, with the result that the rider had no option but to allow Johannes coast home. He may not have beaten his stable companion on the day, but the form book says that he finished 10th, and he ran much better than that.

Poorly drawn in both the Portland Handicap and the Ayr Silver Cup on his last two starts, the son of Mozart won his previous two races, good handicaps at Goodwood and Ripon. The mark of 95 off which he raced on Saturday is 6lb higher than his last winning mark, but he can still be competitive off it. With his stable still in tremendous form, he will be of interest if he runs again before the end of the season, ideally on ground no softer than good.

10th October 2009