Soldier’s Call

Soldier’s Call put up an impressive performance to win the Windsor Castle Stakes. It is not easy to make all the running in a big field on the straight track at Ascot, over any distance, but Archie Watson’s horse was quickly into his stride and quickly into a clear lead in the near side group. Sabre came out of the pack on the near side to chase him home, and Van Beethoven and Dom Carlos both finished well on the far side, but Soldier’s Call was always doing enough. The second, third and fourth were all held up, so the winner probably did well to win, given that he led from early.

This was the Showcasing colt’s third run, and he continues to improve. On his racecourse debut, he did well to finish second to the talented Glory Fighter in a five-furlong contest at Lingfield, the pair of them coming clear in a juveniles’ course record time. Also, Glory Fighter had had a run, and Charlie Hills’ horse raced against the stands rail, which is often favoured at Lingfield. Soldier’s Call did well to get as close as he did from out in the centre of the track on his racecourse debut.

On his second run, the Clipper Logistics’ horse proved that he could operate on fast ground when he made all to easily land a five-furlong novice stakes at Haydock.

He is all about speed, so he did well to last home over Ascot’s stiff five furlongs. He could do even better now on a sharper track. He should improve anyway for this, just his third race. His trainer mentioned the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood as a potential next target, and that makes sense, his pace would be a big asset at Goodwood. He also mentioned the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Stakes as a possible, a race in which the trainer’s Corinthia Knight finished fourth last year behind Declarationofpeace and Sound And Silence when it was run as a listed race.

Ascot, 23^rd June 2018