Aerial Acclaim

Aerial Acclaim is the horse to take out of the three-year-old seven-furlong handicap on the Eclipse card at Sandown on Saturday. He missed the break from his inside draw in stall two, and John Fahy rushed him up in behind horses, but he still found himself no better than second last turning for home. With most of the jockeys sitting off Local Singer, who set a scorching pace, Aerial Acclaim had a wall of horses in front of him early in the straight and not surprisingly he had traffic problems. He was brave, though, in going through a couple of narrow gaps, and he was not afraid to try to force his way out from inside Elusivity, but even in the last 100 yards Elusivity leaned back in on him and Fahy had to ease off. Clive Cox’s horse still finished right on the heels of the winner, Chilled, who was well backed and enjoyed a lovely run through the race, with Elusivity just ahead of him. The three were a little way clear of long-time leader Local Singer, so maybe they didn’t go as hard as it looked, so it is possible that Aerial Acclaim’s effort can be marked up even more, given that he came from right out the back, especially on a day and at a meeting when winners simply weren’t coming from off the pace.

This was just the fourth race for the son of Acclamation and, while he is still a maiden, he looks to be on a very useful mark. A 2lb rise for this run is far from harsh and he should be able to make his presence felt in a similar contest next time out. He was unlucky to come up against such strong opposition in his first two starts, finishing not far behind Pausanias (now rated 110) on his debut at Goodwood before finishing a respectable distance behind Moriarty in the Haynes, Hanson and Clark Conditions race at Newbury, often a decent contest. He was off the track after that second run until reappearing in a maiden at Chepstow two weeks before this latest run. He travelled well into the race there but was outgunned close home by a horse of Andrew Balding’s called Stage Attraction. It may have been the combination of soft ground and a mile that caught him out, or it may have been that he just needed the run slightly on his first start for nine months. A mile shouldn’t be a problem for him on pedigree, but he showed a lot of pace dropped back to seven furlongs here to get into the race from the back, so seven may well be his best trip for the moment. He is one to note thought wherever he goes next, he is hugely unexposed and a 2lb hike is not harsh.

2nd July 2001