Belhaven

Belhaven did well to keep on as well as she did to finish second in the one-mile fillies’ handicap at Ascot on Saturday. Smartly away from stall 10, she quickly adopted a position up with the pace and towards the stands side. She was keener than ideal early on though, it always appeared that she was doing more than rider Pierre-Louis Jamin wanted her to do. She moved easily into the lead with fully four furlongs to run, and she found plenty in front when she came under a ride at the two-furlong marker. In the end, she couldn’t contain Farhh Too Shy, who travelled into her race really easily on the far side and who picked up well, but there was a lot to like about the manner in which she battled all the way to the line, going down by just a neck at the line.

It was another step forward by Harry Eustace’s filly, despite the fact that she couldn’t confirm places with the winner, who had finished almost four lengths behind her on her previous run at Nottingham. Farhh Too Shy obviously improved from that run, but Belhaven improved too, and put up a noteworthy performance in a race in which she didn’t have things in her favour. She was keener than ideal, and Ascot’s straight track is not ideally suited to her forward-going tactics. The handicapper raised her by 3lb for this run, but that brings her up to a mark of just 90, so she can remain in this 0-90 grade. She goes well on this easy ground, and she will do better back at a track at which early pace is rewarded. She is one for one at Nottingham, and she has won two of her three races at Redcar. She is also one for one at Sandown, she won there last summer despite racing keenly early on in behind horses, and she will be of particular interest if and when she goes back there.
Ascot, 13th May 2023