Joey’s Destiny

Joey’s Destiny and Sir Reginald were the two horses to take out of the six-furlong handicap at Doncaster on Sunday and, of the pair, the former may be the one with more potential for progression.

Quietly backed into 8/1 joint third favourite before the off, the son of Kheleyf was steadied at the start by Martin Dwyer, he started making ground about two and a half furlongs out. He had built up momentum and he was closing on the leaders at the furlong pole but, at that point he had to be switched a little around Kimberella. That just checked him momentum enough to give Flyman, who wasn’t stopping, an unassailable lead and, while Joey’s Destiny closed the winner down all the way to the line, it never really looked like he was going to get there.

This was still a fine effort from George Baker’s horse. The straight-track races at Doncaster all weekend were dominated by horses who raced handily, so the fact that Joey’s Destiny was able to come from as far back as he did and go as close as he did was admirable. Winner of his maiden on his racecourse debut as a juvenile, Royal Ascot was apparently the plan after that, but he fractured his tibia so those plans had to be shelved. It took him a little while to find his range as a three-year-old last year, but he won well at Leicester last August on fast ground, and he followed up by winning at Goodwood on easy ground in September. He rounded off last season with a good run to finish third behind Gatepost at Windsor off a mark of 80 after being short of room inside the final furlong.

Sunday’s run was his first run since. He was 1lb out of the handicap, so he was competing off a career-high mark of 81 with no rider’s claim (Thomas Brown claimed 3lb off him on his last three runs last term), so he probably put up a career-best in finishing a close-up second to the talented Flyman, who hails from the Richard Fahey yard, which is flying, in a good time, the fastest comparative time on the day. This was his seasonal debut, and just his 10th ever run, so he is still relatively lightly-raced for a sprinter, and he can continue to progress. The support for him in the market beforehand is a positive, he is obviously well-regarded at home, and he will be of interest wherever he runs next.

30th March 2014