Mot Juste

Mot Juste only finished eighth in the Oak Tree Stakes, but she can be marked up a fair bit on the bare form of the run. Drawn 16 of the 17 runners, over a course and distance over which you really want to be drawn low, Andrea Atzeni dropped her back towards the rear of the field early on in order that she wouldn’t be too wide going around the home turn. Still disputing last place as they passed the two-furlong marker, she moved towards the outside, and she finished off her race well. It never really looked like she was going to get to the leaders, but she was only beaten a total of three lengths by the winner Bliiesdon Brook.

A lot of the post-race talk was centred on Jubiloso, who didn’t have the run of the race either but, as a result, the quality of Mot Juste’s run may go under the radar. Roger Varian’s filly won the Oh So Sharp Stakes last year as a juvenile, and finished second to her higher-profile stable companion Qabala in the Nell Gwyn Stakes on her debut this season. She was well beaten in the 1000 Guineas and in the Falmouth Stakes, but this was much more like it from her, at Group 3 level. She will be of interest at this type of level again now, and this seven furlongs may be her distance, more than a mile.

Goodwood, 2^nd August 2019