Mountain Rescue
Mountain Rescue did well to keep on as well as he did to finish second in the seven-furlong handicap. He and favourite Golden Force went at it from early, the pair of them went very fast and were clear of the other four runners as they raced out of the home straight. Both of them tired inevitably but, while Golden Force weakened and finished last, Mountain Rescue went on at the three-furlong marker, and led until deep inside the final furlong, when he was just overhauled by Swift Approval.
Michael Attwater's horse has had plenty of racing, he is not obviously progressive, but this was just his second run over seven furlongs since September 2018, it was just his seventh run for his current trainer, and it was just his third run in cheekpieces. He did win over 10 furlongs for Chris Wall, but it may be that this trip and these tactics bring out the best in him - seven furlongs and cheekpieces and ridden aggressively, although perhaps not quite this aggressively. A 2lb hike is not harsh, it takes him up to a mark of just 85, 9lb lower than his peak rating just last summer. He goes well at Newmarket, on both tracks, which is not surprising, given that they are both speed favouring tracks, and he will be of particular interest if he goes back to Newmarket now, over seven furlongs, with cheekpieces and ridden forward.
Sandown, 8th August 2019
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