Maqaasid

Maqaasid emerged from the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes with a lot of credit as she did best of those who raced down the centre of track. The winner and second, Hooray and Rimth, both raced down the far side of the track, Hooray being flush against it for the entire trip. Maqaasid didn’t get the cleanest of passages either and can be marked up a fair bit on this effort.

She won the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot on her second start before heading to the Lowther. She settled much better here than she did at York where she was bumped early and lit up, and where she was also giving away a 3lb penalty. She saw this trip out very well on soft ground, confounding the doubters about her ability to do so after the Lowther, but she is bred to do so and she could still be a Guineas contender as her dam is closely related to 2009 winner Ghanaati and comes from a very fine family of milers and middle distance performers. Judged by her winning distance here and the distances she had beaten the placed horses before, Hooray may well be slightly flattered by this run. Most likely she was on the best ground the whole way and it is very hard, especially for two-year-olds, to claw back ground in terrible ground. Maqaasid is certainly not one to give up on yet and she may well turn out to be a better three-year-old.

1st October 2010