Palomar

Palomar ran a really good race to finish fifth in the totesport.com Cesarewitch at Newmarket on Saturday. He had run some encouraging races on the flat in the early-to-mid part of the summer before his form seemed to have tailed off a little. Switched back over hurdles for his run before the Cesarewitch, he won a 17-runner Market Rasen handicap hurdle fairly comfortably off a mark of 125. His confidence was clearly buoyed by that win as he ran a cracker in the big Newmarket handicap, and would possibly have finished even closer if he had been able to find a way through from the back of the field slightly earlier.

Palomar was held up out the back of the field on the rail for much of the contest. He found himself facing an inevitable wall of horses from five or six furlongs out and didn’t have much room at all three out. When he did manage to find some room and switch back towards the rail in the final furlong, he finished with a real flourish to take fifth. This effort is even more noteworthy as Palomar was 6lb out of the handicap. He confirmed the promise of that run on Wednesday by running out a game winner of a Class 2 two-mile handicap at Musselburgh, staying on well to get the better of the useful Bowdler’s Magic, the pair of them coming clear. He remains well handicapped on the flat, and he could still be well handicapped over timber too despite being raised 10lb for that Market Rasen victory.

He had always been a potentially talented horse for Nicky Richards, and he is apparently well regarded by new trainer Brian Ellison, who took him over at the start of this flat season, and he will be very interesting now in a handicap hurdle off a mark of 133.

16th October 2010