Court In Motion

Court In Motion was desperately unlucky not to get off the mark in a near-two-and-a-half-mile novices' hurdle at Exeter on Wednesday. A big strapping son of Fruits Of Love, a real chaser in the making, the Emma Lavelle-trained gelding travelled really well through his race just behind the leaders, he jumped well in the main, moved up on the outside of early leader Lupita still on the bridle on the way around the home turn, eased into the lead on the run to the third last as everything else came off the bridle, and came clear. He was a little guessy at the second last, but he was safe enough, and was pushed out to go about 12 lengths clear on the run to the last. He actually jumped the final flight well, but seemed to stumble a stride after the obstacle and came down. He was as unlucky as loser as you will see on a racetrack.

I am not normally a fan of unlucky losers, of last-flight or last-fence fallers, they are usually over-bet next time as everybody thinks they have seen something that nobody else has, but the trouble is that everyone else has seen it, even a last-flight fall in the last race at a gloomy Exeter on a Wednesday afternoon, and it may be that next time is not the time to catch Court In Motion in a maiden, it may be that we will have to wait until his subsequent run when he is stepped up in grade, but he is such an imposing individual and he travelled so well here and did everything so easily that he is worth including here. He would have been included if he had won the race and, somewhat ironically, he might have had a chance of remaining a little under the radar if he had won instead of falling at the last. A half-brother to the highly talented Bensalem, he ran a lovely race on his only run on a racecourse before this, staying on well over almost certainly an inadequate two miles to finish third behind Oscar Whisky and Midnight Prayer in a bumper at Newbury on Hennessy weekend. Oscar Whisky had already won a bumper before that, and came out and won his maiden hurdle most impressively. He is reckoned to be among the best novice hurdlers at Seven Barrows these days. Midnight Prayer was disappointing subsequently in another bumper, but the fourth horse Rock On Ruby won a bumper at Taunton on Tuesday. In any case, Court In Motion was certain to improve for the experience and for stepping up in trip. He should get even further than this two-mile-three-furlong trip, he handled the soft ground really easily on Wednesday, and he could turn out to be a really useful recruit.

3rd February 2010

© The Irish Field, 6th February 2010

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