Questioning

Questioning seems to have grown up and is an improved horse at four now, his latest effort in the Bet365 Mile at Sandown on Friday making it three really good runs this season already.

He had tracked the leader Cochabamba through the first half of the race, but when that filly stuck over on the far side into the straight, Questioning was left in front a long way out as William Buick brought him down the middle of the track, with the others following. For a horse who is probably at his best when coming from behind horses, it was far from ideal that he was in front so far from home, although he had proved when winning the Earl Of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket on his previous run that he stays further than a mile, so Buick was presumably keen to make use of that knowledge.

He battled on well against Penitent, but he just couldn’t hold him off, and he went down narrowly to the Kyllachy gelding for the second time this season (he had been beaten three quarters of a length by Penitent in the Doncaster Mile, having suffered interference, on their seasonal reappearances).

Penitent is a really useful horse when he can get his toe in and he looks to be as good as ever now for his new trainer David O’Meara, and the front pair were a long way clear of the high class Famous Name, with a further big break back to previous Group 2 winner Dubawi Gold. It may well have been that Questioning’s effort in getting up to beat Twice Over in the Earl Of Sefton just eight days prior to this run just told through the final furlong here, and he may well have fared better against Penitent if he had come straight from the Doncaster race as Penitent had done. This was still a cracking run though, he has now strung together three really solid runs in just 26 days, and these three runs should have brought him on mentally, he has got into a battle in all three of them. He is reportedly set for a short break now, but he is very much one to note for the rest of the season. He handled the heavy ground here but he should be even better back on a sounder surface. John Gosden’s horse has long threatened to be a high-class performer and he could continue to improve through the season.

27th April 2012

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