Approve

Approve is the one to take out of this year’s Woodcote Stakes at Epsom last Saturday. The son of Oasis Dream took his time from his outside draw, stall nine of nine, and eventually tacked over to the inside rail. That is not always the ideal place to be at Epsom and Willie Haggas’s colt inevitably met traffic problems until he was switched right by Eddie Ahern and he ran on well to finish fourth, despite hanging a bit to his left inside the final furlong.

Approve had just two runs before this, the form of his debut third behind Chillworth Lad had worked out well though, that horse went on to finish second behind Dinkum Diamond in the National Stakes at Sandown last week. Approve was slightly unlucky here, he didn’t have the race run to suit, he didn’t handle the track well and he was blocked in his run when he wanted to go forward. He pulled hard early on before gradually making his way over to the inside rail, he couldn’t get a clear run at a critical time but when he was pulled to the outside, he ran on really well. It is probable that he is significantly better than the bare form of this run. He was all out to win on his second start at odds of 4/6 at Salisbury, but he seemed to improve for the step up to six furlongs here and he should get further as he is out of a Sadler’s Wells mare. He has looked green and has hung under pressure on all three starts so far and he should only get better with more experience. The Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot is apparently his target and he could go well there at a decent price.

5th June 2010