Weekend Offender
Weekend Offender did well to get as close as he did in the 1m handicap at York on Friday, given that he was drawn wide in stall 15 of 17, and that he raced in rear in a race in which it was probably an advantage to race handily. Dropped in early from his wide draw by Tom Eaves, Kevin Ryan's horse was second last of the 17 runners as they left the back straight. He travelled well into the home straight, and he made nice ground towards the leader on the far side. Still with a wall of horses in front of him but travelling well at the 3f pole, he engineered a gap for himself at the 2f pole and he stayed on well all the way to the line to take fourth place, closest at the finish. He can be marked up at least a little on the bare form of this run, and, with plenty of stamina in his pedigree, he could progress for stepping beyond this 1m trip.
The handicapper left him on his mark of 86 after this, which was fair. He had won two of his previous three races, this was just his eighth race, and he can continue to progress.
19th August 2016
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