Ashington

Ashington did well to finish third in the two-mile handicap hurdle. Never far off the pace, he travelled well down the hill, and he was just fifth and travelling well as they raced to the second last flight. He made a slight mistake at the obstacle on his own but, worse than that, Sternrubin fell in front of him and badly hampered him. He lost about five lengths and lots of momentum. Theo Gillard gave him time to recover his equilibrium and, once he did, he did well to stay on as well as he did up the run-in past Wild Max to take third place behind Tegerek and One True King.

It was a good run by John Quinn’s horse on his first run over hurdles since last February. He did race twice on the flat, in August and September, so he shouldn’t have wanted in terms of fitness, but this was just his sixth run over hurdles, and he did well to run as well as he did in such a competitive contest. His good runs last season were at Musselburgh and Stratford, both relatively flat tracks, but he proved here that he could handle undulations too. His best runs are on goodish ground, and he will be of interest in a similar contest now. The handicapper left him on his mark of 126, and that is a mark off which he will be of interest in another good two-mile handicap hurdle.

Cheltenham, 23^rd October 2020