Mr King

Mr King finished off his race well to take third place behind Aragon Castle in the one-mile handicap that opened proceedings at Ayr on Saturday. Keen through the early stages of the race, he was taken back in the field early on by Callum Rodriguez and settled just worse than mid-division and towards the outside by the time they raced to the end of the back straight. No better than 12th of the 14 runners passing the three-furlong marker, he stayed on well from there on the near side, closing all the way to the line and getting to within a half a length of the winner by the time he got there.

This race was not run at a strong pace, as evidenced by the winner’s finishing speed of over 107% of overall speed, and Mr King did well to get as close as he got from the rear. Iain Jardine’s horse had to make his ground on the near side in the home straight too as the other protagonists raced on the far side, and he moved a little to his left to join them as he went forward, yet still he was fastest of all through the third last and second last furlongs, and he was second fastest through the final furlong.

Winner of a Roscommon handicap over 10 furlongs when he was in Ireland, Mr King won a one-mile apprentices’ handicap on his final run for Ger Lyons, and a strongly-run mile or maybe even nine furlongs is probably ideal. A half-brother to Thunder Kiss, who won a Noblesse Stakes and a Bluebell Stakes over a mile and a half, and who finished second to Emily Upjohn in the Group 1 Filly & Mare Stakes at Ascot, he will be of interest wherever he goes next. He holds an entry in the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket on Saturday, and he would be an interesting outsider in that if he took his chance in the race.

Ayr, 21^st September 2024