Aragon Castle

The other horse to take out of the three-year-olds’ 10-furlong handicap at Goodwood last Thursday is Aragon Castle. He stumbled on leaving the stalls, which obviously wasn’t a positive, but the negative impact was accentuated by the fact that they didn’t go a strong pace up front, and that he had to race in rear. Still last of the 10 runners as they passed the three-furlong marker, he stayed on well down the outside for Callum Hutchinson to finish fifth, just over two lengths behind the winner Approval, closest at the finish. Three of the first five home raced prominently from early, and Aragon Castle came from the rear and clocked a finishing speed percentage of 109.39% of overall speed.

Andrew Balding’s horse is not as obviously unexposed as the winner, he has run 10 times, but he is unexposed at this trip. An easy winner over a mile at Hamilton on his previous run, this was his first attempt at 10 furlongs, and he saw it out well. There was a little bit of a break between the first five home and the rest, and Aragaon Castle finished off his race as if he had more left to give. He stayed the 10-furlong trip well, and that opens up more options for him on his mark of 92.

Goodwood, 1^st August 2024