Angus McNae: Bay Bridge looks Group One material

On the programme this week, we took a close look at the different aspects involved in executing a front-running ride with three interesting examples of this particular art.

Dictating the pace in a race can be a most potent tactic, but at times one that can be fraught with chaos.

Tom Marquand received heaps of praise for his winning ride on Quickthorn in the Coral Henry II Stakes at Sandown on Thursday and, while the Coursetrack sectionals tell us that this was a well-judged ride and the gallop an even one, this was an easy task for a very good jockey like Marquand given how the others were ridden. In short, no chaos ensued at any point of the race.

Quickthorn was never pestered and always in control, managing to string the field out without exiting his comfort zone. He was able to dawdle through the fifth furlong in 14.08s and the sixth in 15.24s.

What can happen in steadily-run races is that the pace is steady for a while but then picks up as the leader is pressed by others and they get racing too far from home. This did not happen to Marquand, who was able to pick the pace up when he wanted through F14: 12.47s and F15: 12.57s.

This was a change of tactics for Quickthorn and he is talented, but it has to be doubtful that he will ever get a trip like that at a track that favours front-runners ever again.

If one horse should be marked up it's Enemy who was way out of his ground, giving the leader 10 lengths and more throughout. What's more, he needs a strong gallop. A decent prize awaits him.

Smiling Jayne won a maiden handicap at Pontefract on Friday night. Like Quickthorn, she made all the running but this ride was different given it was not straightforward for jockey Danny Tudhope.

He dictated a steady early gallop, going through F2 in 13.65s, F3 in 13.3s and F4 in 14.05s. Tudhope saved plenty of petrol for the finish and his filly finished the last three furlongs quicker than she ran the rest of the race, as evidenced by a Finishing Speed Percentage of 105.42%.

Where this ride differed from the Quickthorn ride was that, just before they turned for home, jockeys in behind got anxious and two horses moved up to press the leader threee and a half furlongs out. Often in this scenario the leader picks up the pace to maintain a lead and gets racing for home too soon. As Fylde Coast and Madam Bonbon pressed the pace, Tudhope was not prepared to kick on. He held his position against the rail and sat still rather than panicking and kicking to see those rivals off. He effectively ignored them and went for home a furlong and a half later. Sitting still and refusing to go when pressured won him this race and it was smart jockeyship, albeit in a moderate contest.

Pogo won the John of Gaunt stakes at Haydock on Saturday. Yet another front-running ride, this time from Kieran Shoemark. This was a muddling affair but the figures tell us what happened.

The pace was very steady early on before a sharp injection of speed which won Pogo the race. The fourth furlong was run in a pedestrian 13.18s and then the sprint started, with the winner running 11.36s for F5 and firing in 11.00s for F6. In effect, this race turned into a two-furlong sprint and the winner was better placed than others.

In particular, we should make a note of Sunray Major who was held up in last and at a positional disadvantage given how the race was run. He also found some trouble in running. He is a lot better than the bare result.

The best performance of the week came from Bay Bridge in the Coral Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown on Thursday.

This race was steadily-run as Tom Marquand on Addeybb tried to do a Quickthorn from the front. The early sectionals were steady: F2 in 12.88s F3 in 12.86s and F4 in 12.64s.The finishing speed percentage was recorded at 105.27%, telling us that this was steadily-run with a fast finish.

With the gallop moderate, it was always going to be a race where a turn of foot would be decisive and Bay Bridge delivered. The pace picked up in the seventh furlong where the winner ran the fastest split of the race at 11.88s. Thereafter he was strong all the way to the line, backing up that turn of speed with a 12.17s furlong to win in taking fashion.

I think we will see a much better horse should he get a decent gallop to go at and he is surely a Group One performer in the making. The Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot seems the obvious target.

At Haydock on Saturday many were taken with the win of Sea La Rosa in the Group 3 Pinnacle Stakes for the in-form William Haggas.

The FSP was 112.61%, suggesting that this was a very slowl-run race allowing horses to finish fast. The winner did well to finish so strongly having been keen. The pace picked up after a mile with the winner sprinting home in a final three-furlong time of 34.99s. In so doing she displayed an impressive turn of foot and is clearly a useful filly.

A look at the figures tells an interesting tale as far as the runner-up Viola is concerned. She was held up and severely compromised by the gallop, holding little chance given the run of the race. That said, she ran really well to get herself into second place. She fired the fastest individual split of the race of 10.72s through the ninth furlong. She was also the quickest through the final three furlongs, posting 34.69s compared to the 34.99s of the winner.

Viola needs a significant sectional upgrade for this performance and is a must for your RTV tracker.

Inver Park won at Hamilton on Wednesday and the Coursetrack sectionals suggest that he is a useful sprinter.

This race was evenly run as evidenced by the FSP of 101.99%. When you get an-evenly run race you would expect a decent final time and this is what we got here, with the clock stopping at 1m 11.06s.

A strongly run six furlongs seems to be ideal for this progressive sprinter and off a decent gallop he was able to flash through the final three furlongs in 34.68s - that compared to the 35.54s of the runner-up.

His penultimate furlong of 10.93s whilst running uphill was really impressive, no other horse able to live with him at that point.

He is entered in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and whilst that may be flying too high should he get in there is certainly a decent race to be won with him.