Rodrigo De Torres

Rodrigo De Torres put up a sparkling performance to land a decent-looking median auction race over six furlongs at York on Saturday. Settled just behind the leader on the rail through the early stages, Neil Callan engineered a nice gap for himself just outside the leader two furlongs out, and once he asked the Bahamian Bounty colt to quicken, the response was impressive.

It is always difficult to know what a newcomer has achieved in winning a maiden, beating fellow inexperienced rivals, but the signs here are encouraging. The two horses at the head of the market, Loveinthesand and L'Enchanteresse, set a fair standard, and the time of the race wasn't bad, but it was the manner of Rodrigo De Torres's victory that impressed most. He should progress from here as well, a big scopey individual by Bahamian Bounty out of a Lion Cavern mare who didn't win as a juvenile but won over a mile at three. He will probably appreciate further than this six-furlong trip later in the season and, as such, he is a more likely candidate for the Champagne Stakes than the Middle Park. He is also in all the sales races and, a £48,000 Doncaster purchase, he should be a big player in whichever of those he contests.

25th July 2009

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