San Anton

San Anton did well to finish second in the seven-furlong median auction maiden at Galway last Friday. He was ridden along through the first furlong by Gary Carroll, but he still couldn’t secure a prominent early position from his outside draw in stall 11. Third last of the 15 runners after they had gone a furlong, he had dropped back to last by the time they turned to race into the dip. Widest of all down the hill and around the home turn, he made good ground around his field. He hit the front at the furlong marker, but Roman Hands fought back well on the far side, and just got back up to beat him by the bob of a head.

It was a messy enough race, there were a few hard-luck stories in the pack and Keep In Touch is probably the one who will go into most notebooks from the race, she got checked in her run on the home turn and again in the home straight. That said, San Anton had to do a lot of running to come from the rear into a challenging position, and he covered more ground than any of his rivals in a race in which the winner made most of the running along the inside from stall one. Gavin Cromwell’s horse should progress from this run, his first since May and just his second ever, and it may have been inexperience as much as his early exertions that saw him cede the lead close home. A brother to Inca Prince, who has won over seven furlongs on the flat and three times over hurdles, he could improve too for going up in trip. A son of Fast Company, both his runs have been on easy ground, and it may be that at least a little bit of cut in the ground is important to him.
Galway, 29^th July 2022