Theola

Theola put in a really good performance to win a two-mile handicap at Chester on Thursday, despite a slow gallop which would have been all against her. She travelled well around mid-division for Pat Cosgrave, but they were never going any pace up front and it was no surprise that she was the first to come off the bridle as early as five furlongs out, when the pace picked up. She traded as high as 80/1 at this stage, but the pace picked up just about early enough for her stamina to come into play, and she stayed on best of all up the straight to get up and beat Simonside on the line.

The handicapper has only raised her 2lb for this, she only just got up and so he couldn’t have raised her any more than that realistically, but she will almost certainly be seen to better effect when there is more of a premium on stamina. She can obviously be effective at Chester, but she is a big galloping filly who should be better suited by a more galloping track and a faster pace. She did extremely well to win here, but both her successes have come even further than this trip, a tactical affair is not what she would have wanted, and she did well to win. The Cesarewitch looks like the race for her now. She will relish the two-and-a-quarter-mile trip in a race that is often run on easy ground. She is progressive, her current mark of 81 probably under-estimates her ability over that type of extreme distance quite considerably, and should see her get into the race with a weight around the 8st mark, which would be ideal.

10th July 2010