Green Light
Green Light can be marked up a fair bit on the bare form of his run to finish third behind Argus and Mistiroc in the one-and-a-half-mile handicap at Doncaster on Saturday.
Always travelling well just behind mid-division in his first-time visor behind a relatively sedate pace that Mistiroc was allowed set, 7th or 8th of the 11 runners, he was just short of room when Harry Bentley wanted to go forward at the three-furlong pole. Once in the clear, he finished well, but his stable companion Argus had also picked up in front of him. He closed all the way to the line, however, finishing best of all to take third place. In another stride or two, he would have finished second, and if he had had a clearer run, he might have got very close to Argus.
This was a race that was run to suit the prominent racers, and Ralph Beckett's horse did well to get as close as he did, in a race in which the winner and runner-up raced in third and first places respectively from early, and given the fact that he didn't enjoy a clear passage. His effort was made all the more meritorious by the fact that he was racing from 4lb out of the handicap. The handicapper has raised him by 5lb now for this run, which means that he is just back up a mark of 87, just 1lb higher than the real mark off which he raced here. The winner Argus has been raised by 3lb. That looks lenient, but if the pair of them meet in the near future, say in the November Handicap, Green Light will be 2lb better off.
This was the Authorized gelding's second attempt at a mile and a half and, while the early gallop was not overly strong, he seemed to stay the trip well. Indeed, he finished best of all, having travelled strongly, which left the strong impression that he could do even better in a more strongly-run race. He took well to his visor too, he had never worn any kind of headgear before, and he seemed to improve for it.
He is an interesting horse now, a potentially well handicapped horse over a mile and a half and racing in a visor. He will be interesting if he takes his chance in the November Handicap, back over this course and distance in two weeks' time.
24th October 2015
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