Punctuation

Punctuation did well to win the two-mile handicap at York on Saturday. Held up out the back of the field from early off a sedate pace, he stayed on strongly down the home straight, and just got the better of Arrange, who had been ridden handily, inside the final furlong. He forged ahead to win by three parts of a length, with the first two coming nicely clear of their rivals.

This was Punctuation’s first run since he won the two-mile conditional riders’ handicap hurdle at Aintree’s Grand National meeting in March, and it was his first run on the flat since October 2020. The handicapper raised him by just 3lb for this to a mark of 85, and he will be of interest in another staying handicap off that mark if connections decide to allow him run on the flat again before the end of the season. He will also be of interest when he goes back over hurdles. He won his first two hurdles races last season, and he will be interesting in handicap hurdles in the early part of this term. It is also worth bearing in mind that he has run well on the two occasions on which he has run at Cheltenham.

York, 14^th October 2023