Raakeb
Raakeb put up a good performance to finish third in the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom on Friday. Held up early on from his wide draw, eighth of the nine runners as they raced down the hill to the turn, he made good ground among horses from the three-furlong marker. Moved to his right on the run to the furlong pole, he kept on well from there all the way to the line to take third place behind the two market leaders Maximized and Havana Hurricane, shipping a bump from Logi Bear inside the furlong pole that may or may not have cost him the head by which Havana Hurricane beat him for second place.
This was another step forward by Richard Hannon's horse, who did best of three runners that the trainer had in the race. Impressive in winning at Ripon over five furlongs on his racecourse debut, he finished a close-up third in a valuable conditions race at Beverley next time, also over the minimum trip. He saw out the six-furlong trip well here in the Woodcote and, out of a mare who won over a mile and three furlongs in Germany, and from the family of a German Oaks winner, he could even get further. He could do better too on a more conventional track and, sent off at a big price here, he may remain a little under the radar. He holds entries in the Coventry Stakes and in the Windsor Castle Stakes, which is obviously a reflection of the regard in which he is held by connections, but it may be that he will be targeted at one of the big sales races later in the season. His trainer has won the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury in July, for example, three times in the last seven years, and he has won the Goffs race at York in August five times in the last nine years.
Epsom, 6th June 2025
Back