Taqdeyr

There is another day in Taqdeyr. The main worry about him before the Abu Dhabi International at Ascot on Saturday was about his ability to settle. He had pulled quite hard on his previous run and that was over six furlongs, so there was always a danger that stepping up by a furlong in trip was going to make that even more of an issue. The big field and the fast pace that a big field usually generates gave Philip Robinson a chance, but Taqdeyr broke too well and saw daylight from the off. He went so fast through the early stages that Robinson couldn’t get him back in behind horse, so he settled him in front. It was far from ideal, and the pace was fast throughout, so fast that the horses who ultimately finished first, second and third occupied three of the last five places in the field of 22 with two furlongs to run. Given all of that, Taqdeyr kept on remarkably well to finish sixth behind Al Muheer and Secret Society.

Taqdeyr is still worth trying at seven furlongs again. He won his first two starts this season over that distance on the Polytrack at Kempton, before getting beaten over it at Haydock when the ground was too fast. He ran a cracker on his only start between then and last Saturday back over six furlongs, when he finished second, beaten just a half a length by Doncaster Rover when he didn’t get the run of the race at all. The winner kept him in when Robinson wanted to take him out to deliver a challenge, yet he picked up nicely and kept on best of all to go down by just a half a length. Doncaster Rover added further strength to the form of that race by subsequently running really well to finish third behind High Standing in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury. The Park Stakes at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting over seven furlongs would be an interesting race for Taqdeyr now.

25th July 2009