Rare Groove

Rare Groove put up a really gallant effort in finishing second behind Eddystone Rock in the two-mile handicap. Always prominent, he picked up well when PJ McDonald asked him to, and he hit the front on the run to the two-furlong marker. He ran on strongly from there, he ran all the way to the line, but he was just run down close home by the winner, going down by just a neck in the end.

It was a fine run by Jedd O’Keeffe’s horse in a race in which they went fast from early and in which the hold-up horses came to the fore. Four of the first five home came from the rear. Rare Groove was the only horse who raced prominently who finished in the first five, and he finished second, beaten just a neck. The Lope De Vega colt only stepped up beyond a mile and five furlongs for the first time three runs ago, and his three latest runs, all over two miles, have been up there with the best runs of his life on ratings. The handicapper raised him by 3lb to a mark of 99, but he is progressive enough to be competitive now in another staying handicap off his new mark.

York, 21^st August 2019