Champagne Mystery
Champagne Mystery finished off his race well to take third place in the two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase at Kempton last Saturday. Held up early on, he was still last of the five runners as they turned for home. He got in tight to the third last fence just as the pace was quickening, and he wasn't great at the second last, with the result that he was still last at the final fence. He jumped that obstacle better, and he finished off his race strongly among horses to get up for third place, just two lengths behind the winner Golden Son.
This race was not strongly-run, as evidenced by a finishing speed of over 111% of overall speed, and that was not ideal for Champagne Mystery, given that he was held up from early. And runner-up Heltenham has already added ballast to the form of the race by winning the Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday. Champagne Mystery is 10 now, he is not obviously unexposed, but this was just his second run since returning to Tom George, and there could be another good race or two in him on this evidence. The handicapper dropped him by another 1lb to a mark of 127, which is 17lb lower than his peak. Flat tracks suit him well, he has gone well at Aintree and Haydock as well as at Kempton, and he will be of interest again now at one of those tracks.
Kempton, 24th February 2024
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