Roger Sez

Mentioned last week after running well in a nursery at Doncaster, Roger Sez is worth mentioning again now after she ran away with the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes at Ayr on Saturday.

The first-time headgear undoubtedly sharpened her up and she ran out an easy winner in the end despite not having had the run of the race. Squeezed out a little early on from her high draw as the runners came across to the stands side, she had to come around her field into the middle of the track to make her ground. Despite coming under pressure quite early, as she had done on her previous run at Doncaster, she cleared away impressively when she got to the outside, quickly putting the race to bed inside the final furlong, winning with her ears pricked. She was four lengths clear of the second, Miss Work Of Art, at the line having been eased, with a similar gap back to the third. The runner-up is rock solid, she had been second to Bogart in a valuable sales race at the Ebor meeting at York (in front of Roger Sez on that occasion), she was a Listed winner earlier in the season, and she was well backed here.

There were some quietly progressive fillies in this race but Roger Sez simply powered away from them. Tim Easterby’s filly shaped as if she needed a greater test of stamina on her previous run, and that run was over six and a half furlongs, so this drop back down to the bare six furlongs did not look like it would suit. The soft ground did help her in that regard, but she still gave the impression that she can do even better at seven furlongs.

As well as that, her trainer says she is lazy at home, and the blinkers almost certainly helped in that regard, they could well continue to keep her more focused. She took a while to respond to driving at Doncaster but she picked up much better here. The yard’s horses ran much better last week than they had been previously during the month of September, and Roger Sez may well have been under the weather at Doncaster. An 18lb hike means that nurseries are now not a realistic option, but that was always going to be the case, this was a Group 3 contest and she won it well. The daughter of Red Clubs may continue to be under-rated, but she has always hinted at this level of ability and she could easily go on again from this, especially if upped to seven furlongs and/or encountering easy ground again.

17th September 2011