Colombian

Colombian was put up here after he ran out a tidy winner of what is often a good maiden at Chester’s May meeting from Tanfeeth, who subsequently won off a mark of 90, and he stepped up massively on that effort to run fourth in the Prix du Jockey Club on his next run, despite not getting the clearest of passages having been shuffled back around the turn. He is worth another mention again now after running third in the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam over the straight 10 furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte on Sunday.

Jimmy Fortune was able to dictate a sedate pace on Hughie Morrison’s Pisco Sour and, with Slow Pace keeping Colombian hemmed in, William Buick couldn’t get a run when he wanted to. By the time Buick was able to engineer a gap, Pisco Sour had kicked into a near two-length lead entering the final furlong and the others were simply not able to claw back that amount of ground. Pisco Sour is a talented and under-rated individual, and he had expended relatively little energy through the race. Colombian took a little while to pick up, but he finished well, going down by three quarters of a length and a head, with Glaswegian having come from the back down the outside.

Colombian should be better suited to a stronger pace. His French Derby run was a huge effort for a colt having just his fourth start, just a month after breaking his maiden, and that race was run at a fast pace. Sunday’s race was a completely differently-run affair which didn't seem to suit. Although the 10 furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte is straight, it is actually just under 10 furlongs, and the drop back in trip combined with the slow pace and quicker ground conditions all transpired against Colombian. His connections are of the opinion that he is a better horse on easier ground (the ground on Sunday was officially good to soft but it apparently rode a fair bit faster than that, as is often the case in France).

Pisco Sour is a progressive horse himself, he seemingly ran above himself when third in the Dante, but he has now subsequently proved he is that good, he came out quickly after running down the field in the Epsom Derby to win a competitive renewal of the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot and has now won his Group 2. Colombian is probably the better prospect though, he had very little in his favour here and has more scope for success at the top level than the winner. He is still worth following, there is a chance that his two latest runs in France may be slightly under-rated when he next runs in Britain.

24th July 2011

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