Golden Apollo

Golden Apollo did really well to finish second in the Great St Wilfrid Handicap at Ripon last Saturday, coming from the rear in a race in which the pace held up well. Held up early on by David Allan in the stands side group, close to the stands rail, he travelled well until the run to the two-furlong marker. He picked up nicely too when his rider asked him to, and he got a nice gap between Gale Force Mayo and the rail at the furlong marker. He got past that rival too, but he just couldn’t catch Justanotherbottle, who was always prominent and raced against the stands rail from early.

It was a race in which it appears that it was an advantage to be handy and in which it was an advantage to race in the stands side group from a high draw. The first four home raced, respectively, from stalls 19, 17, 18 and 20, and the winner and the third were always prominent, while four of the first five home raced in midfield or better from flagfall. Golden Apollo raced on the near side from a high draw, but he was held up, he was last in the near-side group passing the three-furlong marker. He did well to get as close as he did to the winner. He is seven years old now, he is not an unexposed sprinter, he has raced 48 times, but this run suggests that he could be winning again soon. The handicapper left him on his mark of 86, which is 13lb lower than his peak and 7lb lower than his mark at the end of last season. He goes well on easy ground, so he will be of interest as we move into the autumn, and some of his best runs have been at York, so he will be of most interest if and when he goes back to the Knavesmire.
Ripon, 14^th August 2021