Fiery Lad

Fiery Lad put up a good performance to finish third in the Old Newton Cup, a 12-furlong heritage handicap at Haydock last Saturday week. Jean-Paul Guillambert held him off the pace, they were still second last exiting the back straight, which wasn’t an advantage in a race that was dominated by the horses who raced handily, with the first, second and fourth racing in the first four throughout. From his position entering the straight he was never in with a realistic chance of winning, but his rider wasn’t overly hard on him, he had to come through a fair bit of traffic, and there was a lot to like about the manner in which he stayed on under top weight.

Even so, this was probably a career-best effort from the Luca Cumani-trained gelding, given the way the race worked out, and he could be well underrated next time. He was trying 12 furlongs for only the second time, and the first time since March 2009, but he really kept on well under the top weight. The son of Mull Of Kintyre was previously trained by Ger Lyons and he won five times on the Dundalk all-weather surface, including a listed race and a premier handicap, and he was also placed in a Group 3 contest. He is at least as good now for Luca Cumani as he was then, as he showed that when he won a competitive 10-furlong handicap at Epsom’s Derby meeting this year, a race that may have fallen into his lap a bit, but nonetheless a performance for which he probably didn’t get enough credit. He has had 28 career starts, so he is not exactly lightly-raced, but he could be progressive now over 12 furlongs. The handicapper has surprisingly dropped him 1lb for this run, and he could be a big player in another big 12-furlong handicap now when he should be allowed go off at a decent price.

3rd July 2010