Baccarat

Baccarat had also been strong in the market all day for the Sky Bet Dash, and especially on course, and he may have got very close to the front pair with a clear run.

Sir Robert Ogden's horse was a little outpaced through the first furlong and a half, although in truth the horses around him all went off at a very strong pace and they led the field overall as the they adopted a rather unusual formation, kind of slanting across the track. Baccarat was probably never as far behind in relation to those closer to the stands side as it looked because of how fast the leaders went off on the far side.

He was just starting to make progress, however, admittedly under pressure, when he was badly hampered at a crucial time of the race by the unfortunate Amy Ryan, after her saddle slipped on Bogart. He was not more than a length behind the eventual winner Tropics at the time and starting to run on nicely when he lost his back legs. He completely lost his momentum, he had to recover and get going again, and, although that cost him his chance of winning the race, he ran on nicely under hands-and-heels riding to finish sixth, whilst all the time having to angle more towards the near side to avoid the horses in front of him.

To finish sixth in what was a hot handicap after having suffered such serious interference shows that Baccarat is a probably some way ahead of his current handicap mark. He has always been well regarded, he is still lightly raced and unexposed for a four-year-old, and on this evidence he could probably be doing with stepping back up to seven furlongs. He looked useful when winning a good three-year-old handicap at York’s Dante meeting last year over that trip. On this evidence, he should be able to be very competitive in these big six-furlong handicaps, but he could be even better back over seven furlongs. He will be of interest wherever he runs next.

27th July 2013

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