Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen ran another fine race to finish fourth in the competitive six-furlong handicap. Kieran Cotter's horse was well away, but he didn't have a lot of racing room early on, with the result that he was second last of the 23 runners after they had gone a furlong. His high draw should probably have been a positive, but he had to move gradually to his right in order to get racing room. Still around third last passing the three-furlong marker, he went forward as he moved to his right, and he finished off his race really well for Ben Coen towards the far side to take fourth place, just three parts of a length behind the winner Blairmayne. He was in front a hundred yards after the winning line.
This was another good run by Kieran Cotter's horse, just a week after he had won his first race, a six-and-a-half-furlong handicap at The Curragh. The handicapper raised him by 10lb for that win to a mark of 76, but he proved here that he was well capable off that type of mark. The handicapper left him on that mark after this run, and that is fair. There is a good chance that his confidence is up, now that he has managed to record his first win, on his 18th attempt, and he could go forward again now.
The Kyllachy gelding reached a high rating of 81 last year when he was with John Oxx, racing mainly over a mile and seven furlongs, but he has plenty of pace and, as a four-year-old, a strongly-run stiff six furlongs could be close to optimum for him now. He goes well on easy ground too, which augurs well for the autumn.
The Curragh, 30th August 2019
Back