Lie Forrit

Lie Forrit had been off for over 20 months prior to making his chasing debut at Kelso on Sunday, and he put up a good performance to win. He was a little cautious over the first few fences and was given a patient ride by Campbell Gillies, but he soon warmed up and he jumped superbly for the last two miles of the two-and-three-quarter-mile contest. Blenheim Brook, Dancing Dik and The Panama Kid all traded turns on the front end and that ensured that the pace was strong throughout, and that suited Lie Forrit, a proven stayer over hurdles. Blenheim Brook went for home from the second last, which is a long way from the line at Kelso. He began to tire half way up the run-in, and that allowed Lie Forrit, who had joined The Panama Kid for second soon after the last, to lay down a strong challenge on the outside and move on with half a furlong to run. Gillies even had the luxury of being able to ease him down in the shadow of the post.

Lie Forrit did have plenty in hand on hurdles form, but the second and third had plenty of experience over fences, and William Amos’s horse was making his chasing debut and had this long absence to overcome. The Panama Kid had won his last three chases, the last two over this course and distance, and Blenheim Brook was well backed beforehand, and they made it a stern enough test for Lie Forrit on his first run back.

It was a tendon injury that had kept him off, and with those sort of injuries you never know how much of their old ability a horse will show when he makes it back to the track, but Lie Forrit was only a young horse when he was injured, he is still only seven rising eight now, and judged on this run he retains most, if not all, of his ability. In fact there is a possibility that he will be even better now over fences than he was over hurdles, and he was rated as high as 155 over hurdles after winning back-to-back staying handicaps at Cheltenham and Newbury two seasons ago. He did come up short when tried in graded company after those two wins, but it is possible that he was still a bit young and inexperienced for those sort of races, and the good ground in the World Hurdle certainly wouldn’t have suited him. Indeed, Amos has said that he doesn’t want ground any better than soft, good to soft in places for the horse, and so he will be ground-dependent from now on. He can easily progress from this first run back though on an easy surface, his jumping was very good, and he had reportedly impressed in all his schooling beforehand.

He will be of interest now wherever he goes, as long as the ground is soft, and, like Teaforthree, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he made up into a contender for the Welsh National next season, a race that his trainer mentioned after Sunday’s win.

4th December 2011