Tinshu

The Class 3 one-and-a-quarter-mile handicap at Ascot on Sunday was a race with several hard-luck stories, but Tinshu was probably the most severe of them. The winner, Ahzeemah, won well, but it is not stretching things to say that Tinshu may well have won with a clear run.

A lot of the attention after the race has fallen on the runner-up Las Verglas Star, but Tinshu had an even more troubled run than Richard Fahey’s horse, she was locked away on the inside next to Las Verglas Star two furlongs out, and not only did the runner-up get out before she did, but she then ran into even more trouble half a furlong from home and had to switch back inside. She finished best of all, even better than Las Verglas Star, and was in front soon after the line.

The pace wasn’t overly fast, the final time was 0.1secs/furlong slower than the time that Fattsota clocked in landing the Class 2 one-and-a-half-mile handicap earlier on the card, in a race that Mirco Demuro controlled from the front on the winner, and so Tinshu enjoyed no obvious advantage in being held up out the back (the winner raced much more prominently).

Derek Haydn Jones’s mare has been in fine form since she had a haematoma removed last winter, her only poor run since last November came on soft ground at York, she can readily be excused that given the conditions, and she remains very much in form judged on this run. A mile and a quarter on good or just on the easy side of good ground at Ascot or on Polytrack is probably her optimum, and she will be of interest next time she has those conditions. She is back down to a turf mark of 84, which is 9lb lower than her all-weather mark, and that looks like a very winnable mark for her, especially at Ascot, a track at which form on Polytrack can often be a significant pointer. The two highest Racing Post Ratings of her career in 23 runs on the flat were achieved in two of her three races at Ascot, and she will be really interesting the next time she runs at the Berkshire track.

22nd July 2012