Quartz De Thaix

Quartz De Thaix was impressive in winning the Class 2 Live Football Betting At Totesport.com Handicap Hurdle over two and a half miles at Aintree on Sunday under top-weight. He led all the way here on his seasonal debut, injected some pace into the race starting down the back and had too much left up the home straight for the others. He jumped very fluently throughout, seeing a stride at almost every hurdle and got into a super rhythm out in front. Still travelling well into the straight, he forged on soon after the second last and was not stopping on the run-in, actually extending the winning margin close home.

He was weak in the market beforehand and Venetia Williams’s horses usually come on for a run, so there is probably a fair bit more to come. He won his last two races last season when reverting to hurdles following a spell chasing, and he appears to have continued that progression. This French-bred gelding is a great big strapping sort and is still only six. He is rated 132 over fences yet was winning here off a mark of 142 as he has improved by 24lb in official ratings over hurdles since he last ran over fences. Such was the authority with which he won here he will be worth following over hurdles again, yet will be very interesting if he is to run over fences in the near future as his mark of 132 over the larger obstacles now looks extremely attractive, and the way he jumped here makes it hard to believe that he wont be effective over the larger obstacles too in time. He is clearly versatile with regards ground conditions too as he was winning here on soft ground while his previous two wins came on a good surface. He has raced just seven times over hurdles in the UK and just five times over fences, and he should be worth following wherever he goes next.

21st November 2010

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