Tanfeeth

As ever at the Derby meeting at Epsom there were a host of horses who failed to handle the demands of the track having looked interesting beforehand or who travelled into the race well, and it can often pay to follow these horses when they return to more conventional tracks. One such horse is Tanfeeth, who ran in the Class 2 three-year-old 10-furlong handicap, the first race on Derby Day.

Having settled well in the second half of the eight-runner field, he travelled well around Tattenham Corner and was going strongly as they passed the three-furlong marker but was then slightly hemmed in by the favourite Boogie Shoes as Richard Hills tried to angle out around that one and the weakening Gottany O’s. That cost him valuable momentum and the leaders got away from him slightly. When he tried to make ground and was given a couple of cracks of the whip, he started to hang down towards the rail with the camber, and by the time Richard Hills had straightened him up and switched his whip, he was forced back down the camber as the winner brushed by him on the outside. He had no chance from there but finished close up behind the front three, seemingly full of running, despite only pushed out with hands and heels in the last half furlong, with the front five having pulled a nice way clear of the other three.

This is often a good race, it was won last year by Dandino, and as usual it featured several lightly-raced improving three-year-olds. Boogie Shoes had won a Salisbury handicap comfortably on his reappearance off a mark of 82, while Malthouse had run right away from a decent looking field at Newmarket off a mark of 89 previously. Tanfeeth had taken four runs to win his maiden, but had come up against some good horses. He was green and unable to do himself justice on his only run at two where he was a well-backed favourite, so had obviously shown ability at home. In fact he had been entered in the Royal Lodge last year so was clearly well regarded. His first run this season came in a decent one-mile maiden at Newbury, where he made good ground from the back to finish fourth to Laajooj, who subsequently finished fourth in the Group 3 Dee Stakes and won a Listed race at Newmarket. Next time at Chester, Tanfeeth improved again, going down to Colombian, the pair of them clear, with the winner running a cracker at Chantilly last Sunday to finish a close fourth in the Prix du Jockey Club. Given a mark of 88 after his first three runs, Tanfeeth was able to break his duck without too much fuss in a maiden at Sandown, and was left on the same mark for this run. He has been put up 2lb for this very promising effort but there is more to come from Ed Dunlop’s colt. He is still in the King Edward at Royal Ascot, but connections must be tempted to keep him to handicaps off this exploitable mark of 90. The King George V Handicap might be a more suitable race for him at Ascot.

4th June 2011

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