Radium

Radium did well to win a beginners’ chase at Ascot on Saturday on his first start over fences. The two-mile-three-furlong contest was a well above average beginners’ chase, featuring the first and second from last season’s Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, Pause And Clause and Radium himself, as well as Othermix, who finished second in the Jewson at the Festival.

Radium was keen enough in the early stages and was slightly novicey throughout, getting fairly deep into some of the early fences but without ever looking like falling. He made a particularly novicey mistake at the second last on the first circuit before he was impeded a couple of times by Pause And Clause making mistakes in front of him. After the second of these impediments, McCoy took Radium around his Cheltenham Festival conqueror in a deliberate move to avoid that one with the result that he ended up right behind the leaders on the run to the fifth last. Having had to be shaken up briefly after the third last, Radium was travelling just the best coming round the home turn, and he stayed on really well, despite making a fairly bad mistake at the second last, to beat Othermix and Cois Farraig, putting in his best jump of the entire round at the last fence.

The Nicky Henderson-trained gelding should improve hugely for this experience, and he is an exciting novice chaser. He is still only five, it was his first run over fences and, maybe significantly, most of the Henderson horses are needing a run these days. This last fact alone makes this run all the more noteworthy and Radium has the potential to go a long way over fences. His Coral Cup run off a mark of 131 was a fine performance from one so inexperienced, and he is very much a novice chaser to follow.

30th October 2010