Mont Ras

The David O’Meara-trained Mont Ras bounced right back to form to win a decent Class 3 one-mile handicap at Haydock last Thursday after a slightly disappointing run at Thirsk on his previous outing.

He broke well from a low draw, he was a little keener than ideal in chasing a fast pace, yet he travelled well into the home straight. He had to wait for a gap in the home straight, he was boxed in behind the two leaders all the way from the three-furlong marker to inside the final quarter of a mile. By the time he had squeezed through the gap, the challengers from the rear had got there down the outside and probably taken a narrow advantage, with their momentum up. Once in the clear, however, Mont Ras picked up really well and came away from the finishers down the outside in the style of a horse a fair way ahead of his handicap mark.

This was a good performance on the face of it, but it was probably significantly better than the bare form. All the other horses who raced handily faded right out of it, and the other three horses who, together with Mont Ras, filled the first four places occupied three of the last four places at the top of the home straight. It really did appear to be an advantage to be held up.

The Indian Ridge gelding only won by three quarters of a length, and so has gone up just 4lb, but he was value for a fair bit more than that. He is six years old, but he is lightly-raced for his age and he is improving all the time now. This was his second career-best performance from just three runs so far this season (his previous run had probably come too soon, just two days after his reappearance). He is at his best on fast ground, which he didn’t really get last season, he does seem to go well at Haydock, but then again he seems to go well at most tracks, and he is probably better at a mile than he is at seven furlongs. He is not in the Royal Hunt Cup, he would have been a very interesting contender for that, but there could be a big handicap in him now off his mark of 94.

25th May 2013

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