Tudor City

Tudor City did really well to finish third in the Apprentice Derby at The Curragh on Friday evening. Dropped in from his wide draw and held up early on by Danny Sheehy, he was a little keener than ideal, but he still travelled well into the home straight. Almost last as they straightened up for home, he made good ground among horses from the two-furlong pole. He had to pick his way through traffic, it wasn’t all clear sailing, and he had to switch to his left just inside the furlong marker, but he stayed on admirably from there to get up and take third place behind Beyond Happy and Allora Yeats.

It was a big run by Tony Martin’s horse. The winning time was slow and, while the runner-up Allora Yeats did well too to make ground from the rear, she had moved up into mid-division as they raced to the home turn. The winner made all the running, and it was a race in which it was difficult for the hold-up horses to make progress.

Of course, Tudor City is not unexposed. Winner of the Galway Hurdle in 2019, this was his 52nd run, his 25th run on the flat on turf, to go with his 25 runs over hurdles, and his two on all-weather. He hasn’t won since he won that Galway Hurdle, and he hasn’t won on the flat since September 2017, but this was a really encouraging run with Galway just around the corner. He was racing here off a flat mark of 73, which is 13lb lower than his peak on the flat. Rated 140 over hurdles, 7lb lower than his peak and just 1lb higher than the mark off which he won the Galway Hurdle, he is surely on track for Galway now. He does go well at the track, as well as winning the 2019 Galway Hurdle, he won a one-mile handicap there in 2015 and he finished third in a 12-furlong handicap there in 2017.
The Curragh, 25^th June 2021