Night Carnation

Night Carnation won a Class 2 0-105 three-year-old five-furlong handicap well in a good time at Sandown on Sunday. Drawn against the far rail, she sat comfortably behind the leaders, cruised upsides the runner-up when pulled out and drew a couple of lengths clear under just hands and heels in the last furlong.

This was a most taking display from Night Carnation on just her fifth run. She has obviously thrived during the winter and won with plenty in hand here. Her trainer thinking she will be even better with a bit of cut in the ground, and she does show some knee action, sp she probably did very well to win so impressively on ground that was plenty quick enough.

Starting off over seven furlongs last season, it was only on her third run, when she was dropped down to six at Epsom in September, that she was able to get off the mark. She followed that up with a tremendous run in the Listed Doncaster Stakes at the end of October finishing just half a length second at 25/1 despite lacking the experience of many of her rivals and having to race on the edge of the field, finishing a place ahead of Galtymore Lad who had run Wootton Bassett close in two big sales races. That run was clearly no flash in the pan though, as this was an authoritative victory on her comeback, giving weight and a comfortable beating to all her rivals. She did carry her head slightly high here which might be a worry for when she really gets into a battle (she had every chance in that Doncaster race but that defeat can reasonably be put down to lack of experience and coming up against a potentially very useful horse), but there wasn’t much evidence of her holding her head high last season, and it may well have been that she was just feeling this quicker ground a little. Either way it didn’t hold her back at all and she could go on to make up into a very smart sprinter this season, especially later in the season when the ground gets a little easier.

24th April 2011