Fehaydi

Wentworth was obviously unlucky in the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot on Thursday, but both Cape Peron, who had to make his ground virtually by himself down the centre of the track, and, in particular, Fehaydi were just as unlucky, and both of those runs have probably slipped a little under the radar.

Of that pair, Fehaydi's run is probably the one that has gone generally unnoticed. Probably passed over by Ryan Moore in favour of ultimate third-placed Queensbury Rules, the Nayef colt was anchored at the start by Jamie Spencer from stall 33 of 33, he was stone last for the first three furlongs and a little outpaced. He started to pick up from half way, but virtually every gap that Spencer explored closed on him. He kept meeting pockets of trouble, particularly a furlong and a half out when he was starting to pick up, and he had to be snatched right up to avoid running into the back of Wentworth and Llaregyb. He was making ground faster than the Hannon horse at the time but Wentworth got away from him after that and was able to close to finish fourth. Fehaydi got going again though and, without Spencer really able to ride him out late on, as he had his hands on one rein trying to angle the horse out of traffic, he still ran on well to be seventh, but he was unfortunate not to finish a fair bit closer.

Fehaydi ran a cracker on his penultimate run before this to finish fifth to Windhoek in the Tattersalls Millions 3YO Trophy, when he was still right there until he was badly hampered by the winner, who edged across him a furlong out. That was over a mile and a quarter and he could benefit from a return to that trip now. You can forgive him his next run at Sandown, his last before the Britannia, as he ran quickly after the Newmarket race before his 9lb hike kicked in. He is still well handicapped on this evidence, however, on a mark of 92. He could be a Cambridgeshire horse, Bronze Angel won that race last year after finishing third in the Britannia on his previous run, and a stiff nine furlongs could be ideal for Fehaydi. He will be interesting wherever he runs next.

20th June 2013

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