Wildcat Wizard

Wildcat Wizard was unlucky in a six-furlong handicap at Lingfield on Friday, and he may be worth following for the rest of the season now. He missed the break, which may have been intentional, as he is a horse who likes to come from off the pace, but despite travelling well enough for Richard Hughes, he was still stone last as they came onto the straight. He got a split through runners though, and he finished with a real flourish, getting the better of the favourite and useful Little Garcon, but just failing to get up to beat Oil Strike, who must have been four lengths clear the furlong pole, but only scrambled home by a head to deny Paul Cole’s horse in the end, with the front three finished clear of the rest.

Backing unlucky losers on their next run is a sure-fire route to the poor house, they are invariably over-bet, but it is difficult to argue that Wildcat Wizard was not the best horse in the race, with Richard Hughes just delaying his run by one stride too much. The horse probably does need to be just dropped on the line, so he is difficult to win with, but he had run a cracker in the Stewards’ Sprint at Goodwood on his penultimate run before this, where he may well have been the best horse in the race as well, he had to be switched by Hughes several times before getting a run deep inside the final furlong where he ran on really well to finish third to Joseph Henry and Victoire De Lyphar off top weight.

He is obviously a talented sort, he just needs a few things to fall for him, and you can excuse some of his previous runs this season, as Paul Cole’s horses weren’t running well at all. He could well appear in another big sprint handicap before the end of the season and, while he is not necessarily one to back at short odds ever, he should be worth having on side in these big sprint handicaps, where the fast pace and the quantity of runners suit his running style.

3rd September 2010