Corrin Wood

Corrin Wood put up a really nice performance to beat Black Thunder in a Class 2 three-mile novices' chase at Warwick on Saturday.

Sent to the front from flagfall by Jason Maguire, Donald McCain's horse jumped superbly throughout. He was a little out to his right at two of the five fences down the side of track final time and, as such, he could be even better on a right-handed track, but he never stopped going forward. Black Thunder did try to close up on him over those five fences, but a couple of fiddly little mistakes made it difficult for him. He did close up running around the home turn, but, in truth, he was always fighting a losing battle. Corrin Wood jumped the two fences in the home straight well, and cleared away powerfully to win well.

A good but not top class novice hurdler last season, Corrin Wood looks like a different proposition over fences now. Rated no higher than 130 over the smaller obstacles, he was already rated 144 over fences after just two runs before last Saturday. He made all the running and jumped well in both of those runs, at Market Rasen and Catterick, the former over just short of three miles, the latter over three and a quarter miles. He stays well, he jumps well and he is a real galloper and, in beating the 153-rated Black Thunder here, he took another significant step forward. Also, the time was good and the front pair were miles clear of their two rivals.

Corrin Wood is only seven, this was just his third chase and just his 10th run under Rules, so there still could be plenty more to come. He has won on heavy ground, but the ground at Warwick on Saturday was probably between good to soft and soft, it was much better than the official description of heavy, which augurs well for a spring campaign.

This race was won last year by Rocky Creek, who went on to win the Reynoldstown Chase at Ascot a month later and who finished second in this season's Hennessy Gold Cup, and it has been won in the past by Halcon Genelardais and L'Ami. It can be a good pointer to the future, and Corrin Wood could progress again now. The Reynoldstown Chase, at right-handed Ascot, would be an interesting next target.

11th January 2014

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