Peckhamecho

There was a lot to like about the chasing debut of Peckhamecho at Stratford last Friday. He may not have had much to beat – he was sent off at 1-4 – but he warmed to his task well.

Rebecca Curtis’s horse was quite exuberant very early on, but his jumping became much more controlled and he measured his fences well, particularly impressing at the open ditch, which they took as the first fence on the second circuit. He took a bit of a chance at the last ditch, but flew over the next fence, the second last, and he just gradually pulled clear of Dolatulo into the home straight. Dolatulo was the only horse to stay anywhere close to Peckhamecho, and he isn’t a bad horse himself, he was rated 137 as a juvenile hurdler for Paul Nicholls two seasons ago before going back to France. A P McCoy never even had to move his hands on Peckhamecho to coast to a 25-length win.

The son of Beneficial was rated 141 over hurdles after just four runs and he has the potential to be even better over fences. He looks to have a great appetite for jumping fences, he didn’t back off any of his obstacles here, and he should continue to improve with experience, and for getting back on the racecourse. This was his first run in over nine months.

He is not short of pace, but he shapes as though he will stay further too – his dam was a soft ground two-and-a-half-mile winner over both hurdles and fences – so there is every chance Peckhamecho will prove best at two and a half miles, or possibly even further in time. For now though, he has the pace for good novice chases over shorter, and he should be quite hard to beat for the time being. He is only six, this was just his eighth run, and he is an exciting prospect.

28th September 2012