Trilby

Trilby did well to finish second in the six-furlong handicap at Haydock last Saturday. He wasn’t that smartly away and he was last early on. He likes to be held up in his races, but he was last of the near-side group early on, in a race in which the far-side group were probably advantaged. He travelled well through his race and, moved over to the stands-side rail a furlong and a half out, he picked up well when Richard Kingscote asked him to. He still had a lot of ground to make up on the leaders on the far side at that point, and he came away from his rivals on the near side, but he just couldn’t get to Woven, who burst clear on the far side.

The handicapper raised his mark by 2lb for this run to a mark of 78, but he is in the form of his life now, and that is still 1lb lower than his peak rating. Sam England’s horse goes well on soft ground too, two of his three wins have been on soft or heavy ground, so he will be of interest if he races again now before the end of the season. He holds an entry in a five-furlong handicap at York next Friday, and he will be of interest if he goes in that. He seems to go particularly well at Haydock though, so he will be of particular interest if he races at their last flat meeting of 2024 on 18th October.

Haydock, 28^th September 2024