Baradar

Baradar ran a big race to finish third in the Lincoln on Saturday. Slowly away from stall four, he was dropped in behind runners early on by Kevin Stott and he moved towards the centre. No better than 15th or 16th as they raced past the five-furlong pole, he travelled well to the three-furlong marker and he made good ground on the far side on the run to the two. He probably travelled best of all on the run to the furlong marker on the far side, and he joined the leader on the near side, Awaal, at the furlong marker, but he just ran out of stamina inside the final 150 yards, just giving best to Migration and Awaal.

It was still a fine run by George Boughey’s horse on his seasonal debut. He does like this soft ground, but a mile on soft ground probably just stretches his stamina beyond its limit. As well as that, he raced middle to far side throughout, the runner-up raced against the stands rail from early, and the winner finished off his race against the stands rail, and Baradar was the only horse who emerged from a single-figure draw to finish in the first five. A dual winner over seven furlongs on soft ground when he was with Roger Varian, he did well on his first run for Johnny Murtagh last season, in finishing third behind his stable companion, the Irish Lincoln winner Raadobarg, over seven and a half furlongs on heavy ground at Tipperary last April, and he won on his debut for George Boughey over seven furlongs on heavy ground at Doncaster in November. He will be of big interest now when he returns to seven furlongs and encounters soft ground again. It can often be soft for the Victoria Cup at Ascot next month, and that race would be a good target for him now. He was well beaten in the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot last season, but that was on fast ground, and a proven ability to operate on soft ground at Doncaster is often a positive to take into a soft-ground contest on Ascot’s straight track.
Doncaster, 1^st April 2023