Roman Republic

Roman Republic put up a decent performance to finish fifth in a 10-furlong handicap at Nottingham on Thursday. The Godolphin horse was slowly away and he never really settled for Ahmed Ajtebi through the early stages. Just tucked in on the rail throughout, Ajtebi moved him out to the centre of the track just after they turned into the home straight and he picked up well to challenge his stable mate and eventual winner Psychic Ability, two furlongs out. Although he couldn’t sustain the challenge, he did keep on well to finish fifth, just two and a half lengths behind the winner in the end.

A really exciting and progressive middle-distance handicapper for Mark Johnston last season, Roman Republic has been disappointing since joining Godolphin this season. He was disappointing in two runs at Meydan in the spring, and he was well-backed before both of his races since returning from Dubai in heritage handicaps, both times finishing down the field. This was much better from the son of Cape Cross. He was given a short break before this run, which may have helped to sharpen him up again, and he should be able to build on this now. He is still a horse of significant potential latent ability, and he may be better next time, especially if he settles better. Soft ground wouldn’t pose a problem and he looks interesting again now.

14th October 2010