Great Example

Great Example was only just caught by Caradoc in the Dubai Duty Free Handicap. The Godolphin horse was fast away, but he was restrained early in behind horses as Freerolling got to the front and steadied the pace. Around seventh and along the inside as they straightened up for home, he got a nice gap on the inside rail three furlongs out, and he picked up smartly to hit the front and go clear. He looked a likely winner as he led deep inside the final furlong, but Caradoc finished strongly down the centre of the track to just nab him.

It was still a fine performance by Saeed bin Suroor’s horse. He showed an impressive turn of foot off a moderate pace to hit the front and go clear. But he raced along the inside rail, probably not on the best of the ground, and the two horses who closed him down, Caradoc and Gibbs Hill, both raced down the centre.

Unraced as a juvenile, the Cape Cross colt has been nicely progressive this season. An easy winner of a 10-furlong six-runner handicap at Nottingham off a mark of 90 in July, he stepped forward from that next time when he went down by just a half a length to Le Don De Vie off a mark of 96. He raced in cheekpieces for the first time, and he probably put up another career-best.

The handicapper raised him by 4lb to a mark of 100 for Saturday’s run, but he has raced just seven times, and he still has the potential to go beyond that mark. He does have a tendency to hang to his left, and that was not an advantage here, but he is a progressive horse who will be of interest wherever he goes next, ideally at a track at which a left-leaning tendency will not be a disadvantage, Doncaster or Haydock or Newmarket’s straight 10 furlongs.

Newbury, 21^st September 2019