Kiwi Bay

The other horse to take out of the Class 3 one-mile handicap at Pontefract on Tuesday, as well as the winner Harrison George, was Kiwi Bay. Drawn wide in stall 13, Philip Makin grabbed a hold of him in the early stages and tried to settle him at the back of the field. Not only did he not really settle, but he was second last of the 15 runners, about 10 lengths off the pace, going around the home turn with two and a half furlongs to run. Pulled to the outside, he finished best of all, but he was never going to catch the winner, who had gone clear, and he did well to get up and snatch fourth place on the line.

The son of Mujahid was nicely progressive in the latter part of last season, and seemed to continue that progression through to this term when he rana cracker on his seasonal debut in the Spring Mile at Doncaster, finishing just fifth overall behind Irish Heartbeat but coming clear of the five rivals that raced in the far-side group with him. he raced off the same mark of 87 on Tuesday, a rating which could under-estimate his ability, and the handicapper shouldn't really move him from that based on this performance. He is obviously better than the bare form of both of his runs this term, and there could be a decent handicap in him now off his current mark. He handles fast ground and easy ground, and he appears to be at his best over a stiff mile, ideally with a fast pace.

13th April 2010

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