Awsaal

Awsaal confirmed he is a horse of some talent when winning a decent handicap at Haydock on Saturday. He travelled like the best horse in the race throughout, came to take it up at the tw0-furlong pole and took off from there to win by an impressive three and a half lengths from Private Story who was in turn four lengths clear of the rest of the field.

It is no surprise to see John Dunlop’s colt show huge improvement this term, he is a big scopey individual who always looked likely to progress with time. His win here was really impressive from a decent yardstick in Private Story, who brought solid form into the race, having finished fifth behind Monterosso and Green Moon who have both gone on to score again since. Awsaal was clear of Private Story and Private Story was clear of the rest of the field.

After finishing third behind one-time Derby hope Desert Myth on his seasonal debut, Awsaal won his maiden at Salisbury, with he and Ralph Beckett's promising gelding Ashbrittle pulling 11 lengths clear of their field, on ground that would have been soft enough for him. His Haydock run was another significant step up on that. The handicapper has put him up 11lb to a rating of 99, but given that it was only his fourth ever run it is unlikely he has reached his peak and remains open to more improvement. He is in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, and that is a realistic option, but it may be more prudent to stick with the handicap route for now, there could be a big handicap in him before he tackles Pattern class rivals as his mark of 99 may still underestimate him with more improvement to come.

22nd May 2010

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