Astronereus
Astronereus did well to finish as close as he did in fifth place in the two-mile handicap at Sandown last Saturday.
Settled towards the rear of the field through the early stages of the race by Pat Dobbs Amanda Perrett's horse travelled well through his race, as you would expect from a horse who was stepping up to two miles for the first time. Eleventh of the 14 runners as they started the turn for home, he moved up nicely in behind runners at the top of the home straight. He travelled well in behind horses as they passed the three-furlong pole, but he had a wall of horses in front of him, and he had his path blocked when he tried to move to his right to engineer a gap for himself. Checked back and moved towards the near side, he didn't really start to get rolling again until they had passed the furlong pole, and Dobbs wasn't overly hard on him when it was obvious that he couldn't win, but he still stayed on nicely all the way to the line, just moving past Oriental Fox for fifth place in the shadow of the post.
Winner of the Group 3 Aston Park Stakes over 12 furlongs on his debut this season, and winner of the John Smith's Silver Cup at York last season over a mile and six furlongs, this was Astronereus' first attempt at two miles, and he seemed to stay it well. Also, he had to shoulder a 5lb penalty - he and Pallasator were the only two penalised horses in the race - and he can be marked up on the bare form of the run. On top of that, now that connections know that he stays the trip, he can be ridden more confidently on his next attempt at it.
It would be surprising if his trainer did not have the Goodwood Cup in mind for the Sea The Stars horse now. Goodwood is her local track, and she loves to have winners there, and especially at Glorious Goodwood. As well as that, while Astronereus hasn't won at Goodwood, he was only beaten a half a length in the Summer Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last year under top weight. He could be an interesting outsider for the Goodwood Cup.
2nd July 2016
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