Thunderbear
There was lots going on in the Bold Lad Handicap, there were a few horses whose performances can be marked up on the bare form of their respective runs, including Red Evolution and Toyotomi, and Coul Angel was impressive in winning, but Thunderbear did well to get as close as he did in the circumstances, and he could do even better now as the ground eases.
Slowly away from his high draw, he was 21st of the 24 runners after they had gone a furlong. Moved towards the far side of the near-side group by Jack Kearney, he was still on the bridle on the run to the two-furlong marker. He had to continue to move to his right in order to get into clear sailing, and he ended up delivering his challenge towards the centre of the track, well away from the stands rail, where the race developed, but he continued to go forward and he stuck to his task well. He finished fifth, but he was beaten just a head, a nose and a short head for second, and the four horses who finished in front of him all raced prominently from early.
It was a fine run by the Kodi Bear gelding on just his second run for Stephen Thorne. Winner of a Group 3 race on heavy ground at Newbury for Jack Davison when he was a three-year-old, he shaped encouragingly on his first run for his new trainer at Navan last weekend, and Sunday’s run was a step forward from that. The handicapper dropped him by another 1lb after Sunday’s run to a mark of 92, which is fully 15lb lower than his peak rating, and that is a really workable mark for him as we move more deeply into the autumn and presumably onto softer ground at some stage.
© sportinglife.com
The Curragh, 13th September 2026
Back