Black Snowflake

Black Snowflake did remarkably well to finish third in the hot handicap won by Balducci at Haydock on Saturday, given how the race panned out for him. Held up out the back by Tadhg O'Shea in the early stages of the race, he was near last but still travelling well on the inside rail at the top of the home straight. However, he had a wall of horses in front of him, so his rider took him off the rail to the centre of the track so that he could deliver his challenge, but by the time he got out, the race had developed into a duel between Balducci and Al Farahidi up front. Even so, he picked up nicely on the outside to move into third place before drifting back down towards the rail and finishing within six lengths of the front pair. He had some useful types behind him, in Our Joe Mac and Huygens and Gunner Lindley, this shaped like a good handicap, and Black Snowflake performed a fair bit better than the bare form of his run here.

The Elusive Quality colt disappointed on his first run this season in the UK, in the Fielden Stakes at Newmarket in April, but he was a decent juvenile last season, winning twice and running his best race in defeat when he was third behind Emerald Commander in a listed race at Haydock on soft ground. He does have an exposed look to him now, but the handicapper has left him on a mark of 97 and this was his best run yet. He raced here like he will improve for stepping up in trip, a hypothesis that is not disproved by his breeding or by the fact that he stayed a mile on soft ground as a juvenile, and he will be interesting next time if he is stepped up to nine or 10 furlongs.

22nd May 2010

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