Gabr
You can give Gabr another chance after he finished only fourth in the 1m listed race. He raced towards the inside rail down the side of the track, probably on the slowest ground, and he beat the other two horses who raced with him on that part of the track. The three horses who finished in front of him all raced towards the outside.
On his previous run, in a 1m listed race restricted to three-year-olds at Newmarket's July meeting, he did well to finish as close as he did, racing, as he did, on the near side in a race in which it was probably an advantage to race towards the far side or at least in the centre. Three of the 12 runners raced on the far side, including the 33/1 winner Naval Intelligence, and they finished first, third and sixth, while two of the three horses who raced in the centre group finished in the first five. Five of the six horses who raced in the centre or on the far side finished in the first six, and Gabr was the only one of the six horses who raced in the near-side group to do so.
Only three parts of a length behind Without Parole in the Listed Heron Stakes at Sandown on easy ground on his debut this season, he didn't run badly in the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on his second run, and it was interesting that Jim Crowley rode him at Newmarket in front of Sheikh Hamdan's other horse in the race, the well-regarded Emaraaty. He should be able to do better when he has better luck in-running.
Pontefract, 29th July 2018
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