Lui Rei

Lui Rei’s effort in finishing fourth in the concluding race at Epsom on Saturday, a Class 2 six-furlong handicap, can be marked up considerably given his draw and where he found himself a furlong and a half out. The three who finished in front of him all came from single figure stalls, whereas he was drawn widest of all, 16 of 16, which meant he had to tuck right in behind runners to get cover. He was second last two and a half furlongs out, and had to angle out around Tajneed, making his ground up right out towards the centre of the course. The winner was in the front two throughout and took it up before halfway, the third home was always prominent and while the second, Tajneed, came from well back too, he had a much easier run through the last couple of furlongs than Lui Rei.

There is a race in Robert Cowell’s horse yet, he has run several good races this year already, at the Dubai Carnival, in Listed events at Lingfield (behind Anne Of Kiev who has won another Listed race since) and Naas, and in several handicaps over the last few weeks. Good enough to win the Group 2 Robert Papin at two, granted things fall his way in one of these big handicaps, he is perfectly entitled to win one soon as that is now three really good runs in a row. He is in the Wokingham and odds of 25/1 would be of interest in that if he took his chance in it. The handicapper has raised him just 1lb, which is fine. He should be up to winning something big now off a mark of 100.

4th June 2011