Laugh A Minute
Laugh A Minute can be marked up significantly on the bare form of his run to finish fifth (promoted to fourth) in the Group 3 Pavilion Stakes over 6f.
Weak in the market beforehand, he travelled well through his race in behind, a little keener than ideal if anything. The only horse still on the bridle as they ran inside the 2f pole, he picked up when Andrea Atzeni gave him a squeeze, but the gap between Abel Handy and Fighting Irish through which he appeared set to deliver his challenge closed suddenly, and his rider had to snatch him up. That ended his winning chance but, once back on an even keel, he ran on nicely under a hands and heels ride to the line to take fifth place behind Invincible Army.
He was beaten about 5l in the end, and it may be stretching it to say that he would have troubled the winner had he enjoyed a clear passage, but he would have been a lot closer than he was. Roger Varian's horse raced just four times last year as a juvenile, and, while he didn't get off the mark until the fourth of those runs, he progressed with each race. Second behind subsequent Acomb Stakes winner Wells Farhh Go at York in July, he stepped forward from that to finish third behind Dream Today in the Convivial Maiden at York's Ebor meeting, the most valuable maiden on the calendar. And he put up the best performance of his two-year-old season on his final run when he won the valuable Weatherbys sales race at Doncaster in September.
This was his seasonal debut, and there is every chance that he will progress from it. He has won over six and a half furlongs and he has run well over seven, but it appeared that he had the pace here to travel well over six. He holds an entry in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, and he could be an interesting outsider if he took his chance in that race.
Ascot, 2nd May 2018
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