Definite Outcome

Definite Outcome put up a nice performance to win the three-mile novices’ chase at Chepstow on Sunday.

Always travelling well for Jonathan Moore just behind leader Potters Corner, he was a little keener than ideal, but his jumping was good. He jumped into the lead at the fifth last fence, the first in the home straight and, while Potters Corner battled back well, and actually went on front again at the second last, he picked up nicely on the run-in to come away from that rival and, while his stable companion Aurillac closed to within a neck inside the final 100 yards, Definite Outcome was probably idling, and was always holding him.

It was a good performance from Rebecca Curtis’ horse. He was a little keen down the back straight, and he only got home by neck, but he appeared to win with plenty in hand and, according to Timeform, they were very fast over the last three fences.

The Definite Article gelding is a strapping chasing type, and his jumping, which was very good for a debutant, should get even more fluent with experience. He was pulled up when sent off at a big price in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle at Cheltenham last March, but his trainer’s horses were not in good form then and he broke a blood vessel in that race. Prior to that, he had beaten the talented Flying Angel in a novices’ hurdle at Aintree’s November meeting, and he had finished third behind Thomas Hobson and Open Eagle in the Grade 2 Leamington Hurdle at Warwick in January.

He is built to jump fences, however, and you have to think that he can be significantly better over fences than he was over hurdles. He is seven now, he is late enough embarking on his chasing career, but he only started off in a point-to-point in December 2014, when he won, and he only made his racetrack debut in March last year. He has buckets of scope for progression over fences now. He should do even better when the ground gets softer, his record on yielding to soft or softer ground reads 1113, and he will be of interest wherever he goes next. Rebecca Curtis said that his next intended target is the three-mile novices’ chase at Aintree next month and he will be of interest if he lines up there, given that the ground is usually fairly soft for that meeting, and that he is one for one at the track.

9^th October 2016