Bourbon Blues

Brian Meehan’s horse ran well to finish third in a good 10-and-a-half-furlong handicap at York’s Ebor meeting.  Back in the field early on from a wide draw, he made good ground early in the home straight on the far side, and he was checked in his run inside the final furlong.  He had to switch, and then he was checked again.  He may not have beaten the well-backed winner Raammee with a clear run, but he would have been closer. 

He is not hugely unexposed, he has run 14 times on turf, but he is a three-year-old who is going the right way.  He finished a short head in front of Evanesco in a good 10-furlong handicap at Glorious Goodwood on his previous run.  He handled the easy ground well at York, as he did when he finished fourth in a Group 3 race at Deauville last August, just three lengths behind this year’s French Guineas and Prix Jacques le Marois winner Rayif, so easy ground today should be ideal.  He is nicely-bred too, he is from a good Ballymacoll family, his grandam is Islington.

The handicapper raised him by just 1lb to a mark of 101 for his York run, and that was more than fair.  He left the impression that day that he could go well beyond a mark of 100.

BOURBON BLUES WON (ADV 9/2, SP 7/1)