Groundbreaker

Groundbreaker can probably be marked up at least a little on the bare form of his run to finish fourth in the Golden Gates Handicap. He missed the break and he was held up early, but that wasn’t necessarily a negative, he is a keen-going sort and it was a race in which the hold-up horses came to the fore. Still just about last as they turned for home, he charted a path towards the inside in the home straight, but it was a troubled path. Andrea Atzeni had to stop riding as they raced to the two-furlong marker, and he had to switch again inside at the furlong pole. Once into the clear, he stayed on well on the far side to take fourth place behind three horses who had come with unchecked runs down the outside.

Groundbreaker wouldn’t have beaten the impressive winner Missed The Cut here, but he could have been second with a clearer run. This was just his fifth run, and it was probably a career-best. The handicapper left him on his mark of 90, and that is a more than workable mark on this evidence. Ascot obviously suits his hold-up style of racing, he will be of interest wherever he goes next, but he will be of particular interest if and when he returns to Ascot.
Ascot, 18th June 2022