Dubious Affair

Dubious Affair looked unlucky in the Copper Horse Handicap at Ascot on Tuesday. She was squeezed out a little at the two-furlong marker and she had to switch to her right, and she was checked again a half a furlong out. In the end, she just failed by a head to catch Amtiyaz.

If she hadn’t had her momentum checked in either of those incidents, she probably would have won, but it wasn’t just that which makes her worthy of note. It was also the fact that she came from the rear in a race in which the pace held up well. The winner Amtiyaz raced in second place from flagfall, while the fourth and fifth horses, Arthurian Fable and Saldier, raced in the first six throughout, and the third horse Global Storm raced in mid-division. Dubious Affair raced towards the rear of the field, she only had three horses behind her as they started to race around the home turn. She did really well to get as close as she did. She travelled well into the home straight, and she stayed on strongly all the way to the line.

Winner of a novice stakes over 10 furlongs in December 2019 on her final run for Sir Michael Stoute, she appeared to improve when Charlie Fellows stepped her up in trip last season, winning three on the bounce and then finishing fourth in the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster on her penultimate run. She was well beaten on her only run over two miles, but that was in the Group 2 Champions Long Distance Cup, you can easily allow her that, and she is worth another try over two miles again. This is her style of racing, it appears that she likes to be held up and to pass horses, so she will be of greatest interest now over a mile and six furlongs or two miles in a race in which it looks like there will be a good pace on early.
Ascot, 15^th June 2021