De La Bech

De La Bech confirmed himself a progressive and tough young horse when winning on his handicap hurdle debut at Ascot last Saturday. Stepping up to three miles, he saw the trip out really well, proving his stamina on his first attempt at the distance under Rules.

Sent straight to the front by Richard Johnson, he just ground it out despite jumping to his left at times, finding more when he was challenged by three horses in succession up the home straight. It is likely that he went a strong enough gallop in the conditions, the three horses who eventually chased home coming from midfield or worse, and he showed a really likeable attitude, even when he was narrowly headed over the fourth last flight he immediately got his head back in front. Also, two of his challengers seemed to be travelling a fair bit better than he was coming to the home turn, but he fought them all off and he was starting to draw away again at the line.

Philip Hobbs's horse is a horse who seems to only just do enough and, as such, his 7lb hike may be lenient enough for him for winning a race of this type, a novices’ handicap hurdle featuring plenty of unexposed horses, given that he probably had more left to give. He should do even better back on a left-handed track as he tended to jump out that way, and he had impressed when going that way around at Lingfield on his previous run. By Karinga Bay, he obviously handles testing ground really well and he is still of interest off his new mark of 125.

22nd December 2012

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