Iconoclast

Iconoclast put up a nice performance to win the three-mile handicap chase at Kempton on Saturday. He did everything very easily through the race, he travelled well, he jumped accurately and effortlessly, and he looked like the most likely winner from some way out. He made a bit of a mistake at the third last after he took it up, but it never looked like he would fall, and it never looked like he would be caught, as he stayed on really well over the last two fences under Paddy Brennan to beat Newbay Bob by four lengths, with Lord Appellare in third, and the three of them clear.

This was not a really hot handicap chase, and the favourite Reblis did underperform – he jumped continually to his left, he is a bit tricky but he will be much better on a left-handed track – but Iconoclast did it very well. He is nine years old now, but he has had niggly little problems, with the result that he is still really lightly raced. This was just his 10th run under rules, just his sixth chase, and his first chase since February 2008. His trainer said afterwards that he has just taken time to settle, that he was rushing his fences and that he lost his confidence over fences as a result. This is apparently the first season that the trainer has had a clear run with him, and he can continue to progress now. The handicapper has given him 9lb for this, which is fair, he is progressive and his new mark of 123 could still under-estimate his ability. He travels well and he jumps quickly for a three-mile chaser. He handles this soft ground well and he could get even further than three miles. He will be interesting wherever he goes next.

16th January 2010