Tiffin Top

Tiffin Top put up a nice performance on his chasing bow to finish third in the two-and-a-quarter-mile novices’ handicap chase.

Held up early on by Adrian Heskin, and a little keen, his jumping was good for a debutant, if a little to his left on occasion, and he travelled well through his race.  He moved up nicely in behind the leaders on the run down the side of the track, and he jumped into third place over the final fence on that part of the track.  He got in a little tight to both the third last and second last fences, and Celtic Joy and The Flying Sofa got away from him a little, but he stayed on well up the run-in to finish within a length and a half of the winner.

It was a fine run by Alan King’s horse on this, his chasing debut and his first run since June.  A 79-rated horse on the flat for John Gosden, he won just once in seven attempts over hurdles last season, but he ran well in defeat on a couple of occasions, and he raced here as if he has the potential to go beyond his hurdles rating over fences, and a 2lb hike for this run, to a mark of 124, was fair.  He is by Oasis Dream, but he stayed on well here and he jumped well.  Also, there is stamina in his pedigree, and his half-brother Thunder Zone was a dual winner over hurdles for Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown House Stud.  He was weak in the market here and, while he probably wouldn’t want the ground to get too soft, he should be able to improve on this over fences.  He may do a little better too on a left-handed track.

Kempton, 20^th October 2019