Bracken’s Laugh

Bracken’s Laugh put up another good performance in the Dee Stakes at Chester on Thursday. It was just a four-horse race in the end, with Harper’s Lodge withdrawn at the start, and Bracken’s Laugh was settled along the inside by Finley Marsh in a share of third place behind pace-setter Capulet and favourite Jayarebe. He travelled really well through his race, he travelled best of all around the home turn, but he couldn’t go outside, and his rider had to wait until Jayarebe dropped away a little on his immediate outside before he could produce his horse with his challenge between horses. Bracken’s Lodge picked up well, and he closed on the leader all the way to the line but, in the end, he could only get to within three-parts of a length of Capulet, who was the beneficiary of an astute front-running ride from Ryan Moore.

It was still a really nice performance by Richard Hughes’ horse. He had beaten Capulet at Chelmsford on his previous run and, while Capulet obviously improved from that, and we know that a lot of the Aidan O’Brien-trained three-year-olds improve for their first run of the season, you can still argue that Bracken’s Laugh could have finished closer to him in Thursday’s race had he enjoyed a better run through the race. He looked good in winning that Chelmsford race, and he looked good again here in defeat. He has raced just four times, so he has the potential to progress again. His trainer said afterwards that he would go for the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot, a race that he mentioned too after he won at Chelmsford, and he will be of interest there. He proved here that he could handle fastish ground, and he should be suited too by the move to a more galloping track.

Chester, 9^th May 2024