Juvenile Watch: Goodwood and Newmarket in focus

In last week's edition I suggested that Edward Thatch was worth adding to your Racing TV tracker on account of the speed he’d shown on his debut at the Curragh, where he eventually faded into third on particularly testing ground. 

I expected him to take a step forward for that debut effort but I have to confess to being surprised by just how much progression he made when winning at Cork. 

As on his debut, he broke smartly and was quickly into stride but this time he relaxed far better and looked thoroughly professional. 

When asked to quicken he delivered an instant response and quickly pulled a few lengths clear from his rivals; he did briefly hang to his left inside the final furlong but he wasn’t hard pressed to draw away for a five-length victory. 

Of course at this time of the year the form is hard to assess but visually he was impressive, particularly with how strong he was in the final furlong – his FSP of 103.90 was the second-highest in the field despite the tender handling he received. This, coupled with the stout pedigree of his unraced dam Bright And Sunny strongly points to the notion that Edward Thatch will find further progress when stepping up to six and even seven furlongs later this season. 

Trainer Robson De Aguiar is in his first season as a licensed trainer but has been an integral part of the Amo Racing team for some time and will certainly be more than capable of mapping out a successful season for this promising son of first season sire Blackbeard. In the immediate aftermath, the Marble Hill Stakes over six furlongs at the Curragh was nominated as his next target.

A son of Mehmas, he’s already had two starts this season and has arguably been a shade unlucky both times. At Newbury on his debut he found himself on the back foot when getting hampered early on before posting a fine effort to be beaten a head. On the back of that effort he was sent off a well-backed favourite at Goodwood this weekend, but he posted a below par effort. I’d be inclined to forgive this run as he didn’t look comfortable racing down the hill, changing legs a number of times inside the first couple of furlongs. As the ground levelled out he did, to his credit, start to find his stride before again suffering interference, and but for this he might have finished second.

He’s clearly got ability, and back on a flat track he’d be well capable of landing a novice.

Her dam won three-times as a juvenile and, despite only a moderate effort on her debut at Newmarket, I’ll be disappointed if this daughter of Havana Grey can’t win at least one.

She showed plenty of signs of immaturity on this first outing, with a tardy start leaving her with a wall of horses in front of her before she then looked to get unbalanced racing into the dip. However, once Rossa Ryan got her balanced she did race strongly through the line despite not being hard driven.

James Tate would generally leave his juveniles to improve with time and racecourse experience so it will be no surprise at all if she takes a significant step forward in her next couple of starts; a flat track might be more to her liking.

Adonius has looked fast and uncomplicated in both of his wins at Musselburgh and sets a useful standard. However, his latest win came in a class two and as a result he’s burdened with a 5lb penalty. He shows good early speed so stall one is to his advantage but I think he’ll need to improve plenty to defy the penalty.

I’m keen to oppose him with Wait Geordie for local trainer Hugo Palmer. He looked thoroughly professional when winning on his debut at Bath, breaking smartly before finding plenty for pressure. The form of that race looks strong with two of the beaten horses winning on their next start. Oisin Murphy and Hugo Palmer have an excellent strike rate of 32% when pairing up, and Palmer’s juveniles always command respect at this meeting. From a good draw in stall three I’m expecting Wait Geordie to take all the beating.