Deacon Blues

Deacon Blues was perhaps a little unlucky when going down by a short margin to Dafeef in what looked like a fairly hot three-year-old six-furlong handicap at Newmarket on Saturday. James Fanshawe's colt tracked the leaders on the stands’ side rail, fairly close up and actually ahead of the eventual winner Dafeef. The pace wasn’t all that fast early on and they were still well bunched as they approached the two-furlong marker when the tempo increased, and Dafeef picked up, getting first run on Deacon Blues, nipping up on the inside rail. Darryll Holland had to wait a few strides to get a run, as Coolminx was directly in front of him and fading backwards, and when he did get out it was too late. He chased Dafeef all the way to the line, and only went down by a neck in the end.

Dafeef is a quirky individual, as he showed on his previous run against Oasis Dancer, but he is still talented, and the drop down to six furlongs probably suited him, but Deacon Blues may have beaten him had he enjoyed a better run through the race. The pair of them finished just in front of Bated Breath back in third, the ground may not have been ideal for Roger Charlton's colt, but he is a really progressive individual who had won his only three races before this. Deacon Blues himself still looks really progressive, he is still lightly-raced and even showed some signs of inexperience when hanging left and right late on in his previous run behind Lujeanie. He is a young sprinter going the right way and has yet to run a bad race, he handled this soft ground well enough. A 3lb hike may not be enough to stop him progressing, and he is one to keep on side.

14th August 2010

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