Jonah Jones

Jonah Jones was unlucky in the six-furlong handicap. Held up early on by David Egan, he was just starting to move forward on the run to the furlong pole when the gap in front of him closed, and his rider had to snatch up. Switched all the way to the far side, he did well to run on as well as he did to take third place behind Fortamour and Rathbone, given that his momentum had been checked and that he had to change direction and go wide, furthest from the stands rail. He can be marked up a fair bit on the bare form of this run.

The No Nay Never gelding is a talented sprinter. A dual winner over six furlongs for Tom Dascombe as a juvenile, he hasn’t won yet this season since he has joined Ed Walker, but he has run some good races in defeat, including in five-furlong handicaps at Haydock and Ascot back in June and July. He was racing off a mark of 89 here, a mark that is 5lb lower than his peak as a juvenile, so there could be a good handicap in him off this type of mark. This may have been his target, it is a race that his trainer won in 2018 and 2019, but he still shaped like a horse who could out-perform his handicap rating soon. He obviously gets this six-furlong trip well, and this was his second good run in two attempts at Ascot. He will be of interest wherever he goes next, and he will be of particular interest if and when he returns to Ascot.

Ascot, 5^th September 2020