Eighth winner of the year with the turf season on the horizon
February is never the busiest month for anyone in flat racing so a quiet spell is always to be expected, though after having a handful of horses beaten a length or less recently it was good to get one on the board through To The Bar at Newcastle.
It’s taken him a bit longer than we may have liked to get his head in front, as with his back form and the way he goes nicely at home he’s always suggested he would be well capable of capitalising on a mark some way below his best. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since he was running around off a mark in the 90s way back in 2024, but we’d hope that winning will get his confidence up and give him every chance to do so again. Well done to his owner John Moynihan, whose Chelsea were taking a point from the Etihad as To The Bar was crossing the line!
We were also delighted with the debut of the Sea The Stars filly More Than A Feelin at Newcastle a couple of Fridays ago. She has a really nice page and had been doing everything nicely at home, so it was good to see her make a pleasing introduction. We’d expected her to show some greenness off the bridle and that was the case, so we’d be hopeful of her stepping up nicely on that next time.
With the turf starting a week earlier than usual it really isn’t far away now, and a few of the two-year-olds are really starting to look like being racy, early types. We’ve got some really good support again this season and we’re looking forward to the emergence of the next Lady Hollywood or Golden Arrow.
When it comes to the older horses we also have a trio of entries in the Lincoln, all with the consolation race potentially in mind, and having run a very sound third in it last year we’re hoping good old Maysong can have his big day out.
