Tin Horse

Put up here after a very eye-catching performance to dead-heat for second behind Wootton Bassett in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere on Arc weekend, French Guineas winner Tin Horse is one to note again now following his run in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Monday. He was settled quite well back behind the strong pace set by the two pacemakers employed by the Wertheimer-Head team for Goldikova – although not as far back as the winner Immortal Verse or the third Sahpresa. He had got shuffled back a little as they came down to the 500-meter mark but was still travelling well alongside Sahpresa when attempting to make ground. Sahpresa went to the outside of the group, while Tin Horse had no choice but to stay among horses and he got stuck in a pocket just when Thierry Jarnet was looking to deliver his challenge. By the time he got into the clear, the front three were in full flight but he picked up nicely once he got racing room, having been switched right to the outside, and ran on well all the way to the line.

He ran a lot better than his finishing position suggests and he may continue to be under-rated (he was sent off at 20/1 for this) on the back of his sixth place finish, and given the fact that he is not trained by one of the very fashionable French trainers. That would be a mistake though, he looked like he was going to get right into contention before he encountered trouble. He started his run from alongside Sahpresa and appeared to quicken better than her initially before he had nowhere to go, and she had a trouble-free run down the far outside to finish third, beaten just a nose for second by Goldikova. The winner won like a very good filly, and even with a completely trouble-free run Tin Horse probably wouldn’t have beaten her, but he can certainly have expected to finish a fair bit closer. Even as it was he finished ahead of some very good horses, plenty of horses with Group 1 form. Indeed, this was probably the deepest race run anywhere in Europe this season, quite possibly the strongest mile race run in Europe for some time. The winners of all the big races were here, with the exception of Frankel and Canford Cliffs, top form lines represented from both sides of the Channel, and Italy. This was a big run from Tin Horse, and it should have been even bigger.

The son of Sakhee was a tidy winner of the French Guineas earlier in the season, and he is certainly not short of pace. He is probably unfortunate to be racing at a time when the mile division is so strong, Goldikova has carried just about all before her for the last few years and now she is coming to the end of her career there appears to be a ready replacement for her in the shape of the winner here Immortal Verse, and then there is Frankel who is going to be there to contest all the big prizes next year too. That being the case, it would be interesting to see Tin Horse tried again over a longer trip. It is easy to say he didn’t stay in the Prix du Jockey Club, and while he undoubtedly didn’t run as well there as he did in winning the Poulains, it can’t be said for sure that that was down to the longer trip. He had to endure a wide trip throughout and was never really travelling with the fluency with which he can, the race may have come too soon after the Poulains. He was rested after that before this latest run and it may well be that he is best when fresh or at least with time in between his races. Interestingly he is in both the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Champion Stakes, both run at Ascot on the same day this year, and he would be of particular interest if he steps back up to 10 furlongs for the Champion Stakes. Wherever he runs for the rest of the season though, he is very much worth looking out for. He will probably be under-rated by the market wherever he runs next, especially if his next run is outside of his native France.

15th August 2011

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