Red Jazz

16th-Oct-2010

Delegator is the obvious one here, and if he can re-discover his peak form of last year he will take a lot of beating, but I am quite happy to take him on at around 2/1. There is a good chance that he will not be as good as he was at his prime last year. His form tailed off last year, his best runs were in the early part of the year, when he won the Craven and finished second to Sea The Stars in the Guineas. He never appeared to be the same horse after he finished second behind Mastercraftsman in the St James’s Palace Stakes, and there is a good chance that he is (still) not the horse that he was in the Craven or the Guineas.

True, he won on his debut this season four weeks ago, but he only got home by a neck, and that race is working out terribly. The second, third and fourth, Sir Gerry, Awzaan and Huntdown, have all been well beaten in their subsequent races. Delegator may be the force of old, and Frankie Dettori certainly seemed hopeful in an interview on Thursday, but I am happy to be against him at the price.

Red Jazz has at least as good a chance of winning the race as Delegator in my book, and he is three times his price. Barry Hills’s colt hasn’t won since he won the Free Handicap over today’s course and distance back in April, but he has proven himself to be a high class colt in defeat on a number of occasions, including when he only just went down by a neck to Rainfall in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot.

It looked like he might have had enough for the season when he was beaten in the Betfair Cup at Glorious Goodwood, and again when he was beaten in the City of York Stakes at York’s Ebor meeting, but he ran a cracker to get to within a half a length of Poet’s Voice and Rip Van Winkle in the QE2 on his last run. He just gave best inside the final 200 yards that day, he had always shaped like a seven-furlong specialist before that, and the drop back down to seven furlongs today should be in his favour.

It is not ideal that he has had such a busy season, but Barry Hills won this race with Miss Lucifer in 2007, who had had a similarly busy campaign, and he seems to take his racing well. Hills has actually won this three times in the last 10 years, and five times in total. It is obviously a race he targets.

There is also a possibility that Red Jazz is better at Ascot than he is anywhere else, the two best runs of his life have been there, but he did put in a big performance to win the Free Handicap over this course and distance, and he ran a cracker in the Guineas over a trip that was probably a furlong too far. He obviously likes Newmarket as well and, if he gives his running, which is likely, he should go close.

RED JAZZ WON (ADV 6/1, SP 5/1)

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