Total Gallery

Total Gallery ran a nice race on his first run for 91 days to dead-heat for sixth place behind Astrophysical Jet in a Group 3 five-furlong contest at Newbury on Saturday. He travelled well out the back through the early stages of the race, he was the only horse with a motionless rider passing the two-furlong pole, and he picked up nicely a furlong out when Richard Hughes asked him to, following the winner through. His run just flattened out from 150 yards out, and Hughes wasn't hard on him through the closing stages of the race, just nudging him out to the line once his winning chance had gone. Even at that, he was only beaten a total of two lengths by a highly talented filly.

Winner of the Prix de l'Abbaye last year, an impressive accomplishment for a three-year-old, things haven't really gone to plan for the son of fellow Abbaye winner Namid this season. After shaping well in the Palace House and the Temple Stakes, when conceding Group 1 penalties, he disappointed in the King's Stand and in the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot. He has obviously had his problems, this was his first run since Royal Ascot, but trainer Stan Moore said before this race that he was on his way back, and this run seemed to confirm as much. He was beaten in this race last year as well before he went on to land the Abbaye, and it could be a similar story this year. The fact that he had been off the track since Royal Ascot is a positive in the context of an autumn campaign and, if this run brings him on just a little, he could be a big player again at Longchamp next Sunday. He obviously likes the track, he goes well at this time of year - he won a listed race in October as a juvenile - and he could be allowed go off at a decent price in the Abbaye given that he has failed to win in five attempts this year.

18th September 2010

© The Irish Field, 25th September 2010

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