Remarkable
It appeared that there was a significant advantage to be gained from racing close to the stands rail in the Victoria Cup at Ascot on Saturday, so Remarkable did well to finish as close as he did, posted out wide towards the centre of the track from flagfall.
Early leader Zhui Feng got over from stall 11 to the stands rail, and he settled into a nice racing rhythm once he was there. The net result was that there was some congestion on the stands rail but, more importantly and less obviously, the horses who raced in the centre of the track were isolated, away from the main action.
Remarkable was hampered on leaving the stalls, and he came under a ride from Kieran Shoemark from just inside the three-furlong pole. As the race developed towards the stands side, he kept on well all the way to the line. He only finished 10th, but he was only beaten a total of four lengths by the winner Fastnet Tempest, and he did best of those horses who raced towards the far side.
This was John Gosden's horse's seasonal debut, and it was just his eighth run ever, so he has plenty of scope for progression now. The handicapper left him on his mark of 105, which is a mark off which there could be a big handicap in him. He has good form at Ascot's straight track, on good and soft ground, which is a positive given that there are plenty of valuable six-furlong and seven-furlong and one-mile handicaps run at the track. He ran a cracker to finish second to Yuften in the Balmorral Handicap there last October on his only run to date over a mile, and he would be interesting now back over a mile, back at Ascot. As such, he could be a Royal Hunt Cup horse.
13th May 2017
Back