Palace Rock

Noted before after he finished second behind The Very Man in a two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle at Navan in January, Palace Rock is worth noting again after he won a two-mile handicap hurdle at Naas on Saturday. Racing keenly up on the outside of runners early on, he moved into second place behind breakaway leader Prospectus as they passed the winning post with a circuit to run. He moved to the front ahead of Prospectus over the fourth last flight, which is far enough from home over two miles on soft ground at Naas, but rider Denis O’Regan always looked confident. Francis Casey’s horse travelled well into the home straight as his rivals came under pressure behind him, he jumped the second last flight well and quickened into a clear lead. He got the last all wrong, he put in a short stride and hit the top of the flight and lost lots of momentum, but he had enough in reserve to get going again up the hill, keeping on well enough to get home by a half a length from the fast-finishing Take All.

It was a nice step forward by Francis Casey’s horse, racing off a handicap mark of 125, 5lb higher than the mark off which he raced at Navan. He is a free-going sort, and he obviously appreciated the drop back down to two miles. He was still keen, and he didn’t have a lot of cover early on, and he ended up closer to the pace than may have been the plan initially, but he still did it nicely. The handicapper raised him by 7lb for this to a mark of 132, but he probably won with a fair bit more in hand than the bare winning margin. He should do better too in a better race, in which a faster pace will help him settle better, and should facilitate more patient tactics. He does hold an entry at Leopardstown on Sunday, and he will be of interest if he lines up there, but he has such a high cruising speed, you can see him travelling well into his race in one of those good big-field two-mile handicap hurdles at Fairyhouse or Punchestown, before being delivered late. He is only five and he remains an exciting prospect.
Naas, 27^th February 2022