Paddys Motorbike

Paddys Motorbike is the other horse to take out of the Holloway’s Handicap Hurdle at Ascot on Saturday. There was a lot of competition for the early lead, and it was a competition that Paddys Motorbike won, but he probably had to expend a fair amount of energy in order to get to the front, and he set a fair pace on the ground once he got there. He jumped well and he travelled well in front, and he lasted in front until the home turn, when Kateson and Craigneiche moved on in front of him, and he weakened from there to finish fifth in the end.

He ran better than that though. He probably had to go faster than ideal in order to bag the lead, and he raced towards the inside throughout, probably on the worst of the ground. The four horses who finished in front of him all raced off the inside rail. He went into the race on an upward curve, having won his previous two races, both novice hurdles, and he was sent off as favourite for Saturday’s competitive race on the back of those two wins. Fifth in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2019 when he was with Nigel Twiston-Davies, he was off the track from July 2019 until he made his debut for Sam Thomas in a maiden hurdle at Chepstow in October this season.

He is nine, but he has had his issues and, consequently, he is relatively lightly raced for his age. The handicapper dropped him by 1lb after Saturday’s race to a mark of 130, and that is a mark off which he will be of interest again in another good handicap hurdle, ideally returned to a track that favours prominent racers over hurdles.
Ascot, 23^rd January 2021