Sametegal

Sametegal put up a really nice performance to win a really good two-mile-three-and-a-half-furlong beginners' chase at Huntingdon on Sunday on his first run for 599 days.

Relatively weak in the market beforehand, Paul Nicholls' horse was settled back in fourth place by Nick Scholfield behind a decent pace that the well-fancied and well-backed Three Musketeers set. His jumping was a little deliberate through the early stages of the race, which is perfectly forgiveable for a chasing debutant, and he was a little out to his left on occasion, but he travelled well through his race in the main. Moving nicely into third place as they raced across the top of the track, he moved up on the far side of Three Musketeers and El Namoose on the run to the final fence, apparently travelling better than his two rivals. He was a little guessy at the last, he came up out of his rider's hands and he didn't land with any momentum, but he stayed on strongly on the run-in to get the better of El Namoose, with the pair of them coming clear of Three Musketeers.

This was a good start to his chasing career by the son of Saint Des Saints. He kept on well in the end to beat two talented rivals, and he should progress from that, his first run over fences and his first run since March 2014. He achieved a peak rating over hurdles of 150, and there is every reason to expect that he can be as least as good over fences. He is still just six, and he has plenty of potential to continue to progress.

1^st November 2015

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