Eccleston

The ground had probably just gone a little too fast for Eccleston in advance of the Ayr Silver Cup on Saturday, but he still ran on well to take sixth place behind Tatlisu and George Bowen.

Slowly enough away, he found himself towards the rear of the field after they had gone two furlongs.  He came under pressure from Daniel Tudhope as the pace started to increase, and it looked like he was going to finish off his race at the rear of the field.  He started to pick up on the run to the furlong pole, however, and, switched towards the near side, he finished best of all to take sixth place, just missing out on fifth.  It was another good run from David O’Meara’s horse on ground that just wasn’t ideal, and he continues on the upgrade.

On his penultimate run before Saturday, Eccleston did best of the horses that raced on the far side, finishing fourth overall behind Don’t Touch and Kimberella and Tatlisu, all of whom raced on the stands side.  On his last run before Saturday, he won a big-field handicap at Thirsk which has worked out ridiculously well thus far, with the fifth, sixth and eighth all winning subsequently, and the second, Another Wise Kid, finishing third in the Portland Handicap on his next run from a poor draw.  Both of those races were run on soft or easy ground, and Eccleston will be of interest now when he can get back on soft ground.  His trainer should be able to find at least one six-furlong soft-ground handicap for him between now and the end of the season.  Looking further ahead, he could be the first horse on your shortlist for next year’s Ayr Gold Cup.

19^th September 2015