Three Musketeers
Three Musketeers was disappointing in the BetBright Chase at Kempton last Saturday. It never really looked like he was going to win, and he ultimately finished a tame sixth of the 11 finishers. However, it may pay to give him another chance.
Dan Skelton's horse was never in any kind of a racing rhythm. He wasn't fluent over the early fences, and he seemed to want to put in an extra stride throughout the race when he was meeting a fence on a long stride. Perhaps he wasn't happy to have a cut at his fences on the good ground, perhaps he didn't enjoy being held up, racing among horses. And even though he was disappointing, he was still only beaten a total of six lengths.
This was his first attempt at three miles under Rules, and maybe connections decided to ride him patiently because of that, but his best performance to date over fences was on his previous run at Market Rasen, when he was ridden handily, picked up the running early and stayed on well to beat Kilcrea Vale by three lengths, the pair of them miles clear of their three pursuers. Kilcrea Vale added further ballast to that form by beating As De Mee at Fontwell on his next run.
The ground was soft that day at Market Rasen, and it may be that soft ground is important to Three Musketeers. Also, he does jump to his right, so he is probably at his best on a right-handed track. He is worth another try at three miles, but we do know that he is good over two and a half miles on soft ground. He is still just seven, so it is still more than possible that he can go on now and fulfill his potential. He will be of interest wherever he goes next, and interest will be heightened if the ground is soft.
25th February 2017
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