Jacamar

Jacamar ran better in the two-and-a-half-mile chase at Warwick last Saturday than his finishing position in fifth place suggests. Held up by Harry Reed through the early stages of the race, he made a mistake at the fifth last fence, just as the pace was increasing, when he needed to get close to the leaders. He was always playing catch-up after that, but he stayed on well from the top of the home straight to take fifth place. He was in third place 10 strides after the winning line.

The winner Celebre D’Allen raced in rear early on, but he was really well-backed and he won in the style of a horse who was well ahead of the handicapper – he is clear favourite now for the Paddy Power Plate at Cheltenham even after a 6lb hike – and this was a race in which it was probably an advantage to race close to the pace, as it usually is at Warwick. Jacamar did well to get as close as he did. He should do better now in a race in which, and at a track at which, his hold-up style of racing is not a disadvantage, and he races like he could improve for a step up in trip now to three miles. He would be interesting in a three-mile handicap chase now on goodish ground. He won a Pertemps qualifier at Wincanton in December 2020 on soft ground over two miles and five and a half furlongs, the longest trip over which he has ever raced. He has plenty of potential for progression anyway, a seven-year-old who has raced just six times over fences, and he looks interestingly handicapped on a mark of 131 now, dropped 1lb for Saturday’s run and just 1lb higher than the mark off which he won at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day under a fine ride from Danny Mullins.
Warwick, 12^th February 2022