Montatham

Montatham did well to finish second in the Royal Hunt Cup. Drawn in stall five, over on the far side, he edged his way over towards the near side group, as did all but four of the runners. He was the lowest-drawn horse to come towards the stands side. He was out towards the centre of the track, which wasn’t ideal, but he travelled well through his race, he was travelling best of all two and a half furlongs out, and he picked up well at the three-furlong pole when Dane O’Neill asked him to. He looked a likely winner when he grabbed the leader Vale Of Kent at the furlong pole. He had done a lot of running to get there though, and his run just flattened out a bit as Dark Vision finished off his race well.

It was still a big run by William Haggas’ horse. Two from five last season as a three-year-old, he was impressive in winning at Newmarket on his debut this season, his first run since being gelded. He coped well with an 8lb hike for that, and another 3lb for his Hunt Cup run looks more than fair. He still has the potential to go beyond his new mark of 100, and he will be of interest now in another big one-mile handicap, and we know that he goes well at Ascot and at Newmarket.

Ascot, 17^th June 2020