Mount Oscar

Mount Oscar put up a huge effort to narrowly go down to the very progressive Quinz in the Racing Post Chase at Kempton on Saturday.

He made a bad mistake at the last fence on the far side, the fourth last, throwing his jockey right up his neck, just when he was travelling well and beginning to make progress. Even so, he made his ground up on the two leaders and was the only one to get into the race from the back, him and Quinz pulling clear of Nacarat with another big gap to the fourth at the line.

All of Mount Oscar’s best form up to now has been at around two and a half miles, and while he does stay an easy three miles, this race turned into a war of attrition at the trip (as it often does) courtesy of the very free-going Safari Adventures and he just wasn’t quite able to see it out as well as the more youthful winner Quinz. It may well be that the big effort of having to close down the gap on the winner from the turn in after making that bad error at the fourth last was just too much for him to be able to continue after the last, as he was a fair way back after that error. It may also have been that Quinz was simply idling and that he pulled out more once challenged, but Quinz is very good given his conditions, and the pair of them were clear of some really useful rivals.

This was nevertheless a big performance from the 12-year-old, although he is quite a lightly raced veteran, against a very progressive seven-year-old who is now Grand National bound and as short as 14/1 for the Aintree spectacular. There is a possibility that because he was a 50/1 shot for this race, and because he is a 12-year-old, Mount Oscar’s performance may be under-rated.

Up to a career high of 145 now, if he can be found another opportunity at a flat track, possibly at Newbury where he has won the last two times that he has raced there, he can gain deserved reward for this fine run before the season is out.

26th February 2011