Eastern Impact

Eastern Impact did well to finish sixth in the 5f handicap, racing as he was, from stall nine in a race that was dominated by the high-drawn horses who raced on the near side. Fast away, he settled back behind the leaders on the far side, but the overall leaders, Final Venture and El Astronaute, had a fair advantage over the far-side runners from early. Eastern Impact travelled well to the 2f pole and he picked up well to hit the front over there, and lead home the horses that raced on the far side. The first five home were drawn, respectively, 18, 12, 15, 19 and 20, and they all raced on the near side. Eastern Impact beat the other far-side horses by 2l.

Richard Fahey’s horse was a potentially well-handicapped horse going into this race on a mark of 92, 21lb lower than his peak and 11lb lower than he was just a year ago. First-time blinkers replaced cheekpieces, and he responded well to the new headgear. He hasn’t won at York now in seven attempts, his best runs have been at Newmarket and he has run good races at Ascot and at The Curragh, so he will be of interest now when he returns to one of those tracks. The handicapper dropped him by another 2lb to a mark of 90, which was a nice bonus. That is his lowest handicap rating ever. He has run 42 times, he is not obviously unexposed, but he is shaping like a well-handicapped sprinter now. That mark could get him into the Ayr Bronze Cup, and he will be of interest if he runs in that.

York, 22^nd August 2018