Brick Red

Brick Red battled on gamely to land a decent one-mile handicap at Ascot on Sunday. He had caught the eye in a seven-furlong handicap at the same track two days previously, staying on well to finish third behind Excellent Guest and giving the impression that he would appreciate a step up in trip. Always travelling well here for Jimmy Fortune, he was well placed to challenge three furlongs out, just behind the leaders on the far side. He hit the front early enough, well over a furlong out, and there were horses challenging on either side inside the final furlong, but he stuck to his task well, and galloped all the way to the line to get home by a head from South Cape, with Saturday's Cambridgeshire winner Credit Swap a fast-finishing third.

Andrew Balding’s gelding was well backed on his previous run, over seven furlongs, he bounced out of the stalls and stayed handy, but he looked like he was about to get swallowed up when coming under pressure, before picking up well and finishing the strongest of all. The step up to a mile for the first time on Saturday suited him well, and he has a progressive look now, this was only his eighth start and he did it well. The son of Dubawi should come on for this again, he looks open to more improvement over a mile now and he could be worth a try over further in time. A 3lb hike for this to a make of 85 is more than fair and he will be interesting wherever he shows up next.

26th September 2010

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