Huntdown

Huntdown put in an eye-catching performance when finishing fourth in a competitive seven-furlong listed race at Newbury on Friday on his first run of the season. He led for most of the way against the near side rail, which isn’t something he has done before, but he travelled well enough still for Jamie Spencer. He picked up well when asked, but he did appear to falter a bit when Awzaan came over to him inside the two-furlong pole, after which Spencer wasn’t hard on him, just allowing him freewheel home through the final 150 yards.

The son of Elusive Quality was a fairly good two-year-old, he finished third in the Middle Park Stakes and he wasn’t beaten far in the Dewhurst. He may not have reached the same level of form last season, when he could manage only a couple of decent performances at listed and Group 3 level, but this was a more than satisfactory return, and he will be worth another look next time out now. He set a fairly decent pace here, and it’s also worth noting that the three horses that finished in front of him – Delegator, Awzaan and Sir Gerry – all came from the rear, and all came down the centre of the track, while Huntdown raced prominently on the stands rail.

The Godolphin horse was just beaten by Ashram in this race last year, and his only previous success also came at Newbury when he won his maiden by seven lengths. He will be interesting now wherever he goes next.

17th September 2010