Credit Swap

Credit Swap put up a good performance on his debut over hurdles at Leicester last Monday. Division 1 of the two-mile Widmerpool Novices’ Hurdle appeared to have quite a bit of depth in it with three of the runners already successful over hurdles and Desert Cry bringing Listed race form from Italy on his British debut.

The last time we had seen Credit Swap on a racecourse was when winning the Cambridgeshire off 87 three months ago. Racing in midfield here, there was clearly a little bit of rustiness in him and he was quite careful over some of his hurdles, especially when the pace increased in the home straight. Switched outside the front three he started to make ground coming to the second last and was only just behind the favourite Alarazi, rated as high as 106 on the flat in Ireland, he was soon upsides despite a stumble on landing over the last, and he powered clear on the run in to put nearly five lengths between himself and Alarazi.

This was a very impressive performance from a hurdling debutant, not least for one who never truly got 10 furlongs on the flat (although many would argue that you have to get 10 furlongs to win a Cambridgeshire). He is a very tough horse – his win in the first leg of the autumn double was his third run in a week – and he showed a good deal of that tenacity here. He handles a variety of ground conditions and appears to have an aptitude for hurdling. He is in capable hands, Venetia Williams seems to have freshened him up well after a busy campaign at the back end of the flat season, and it will be very interesting to see how far he can go over hurdles.

4th January 2011