St Moritz

12th-May-2011

St Moritz seems to have improved significantly since he joined David Nicholls, and it appears that the handicapper hasn’t quite caught up with that level of improvement as yet.

Disappointing on his last run for Mark Johnston at Ascot last September, he has now won two and finished second once in three runs for Nicholls, and the form of those races looks rock solid. He beat Kings Gambit at Ripon on his debut for Nicholls, and Kings Gambit came out on his next run and won the Group 3 Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown, he beat the useful pair Off Chance and Balcarce Nov on his next run in a listed race at Doncaster and, last time at Ascot, in another listed race, he beat all bar Side Glance, who is potentially high class, a fact that was underlined by his subsequent win over The Cheka at Windsor on Monday, giving him 4lb, under conditions that shouldn’t have suited. Five of the six horses who finished behind St Moritz at Ascot were rated higher than him and the one that wasn’t, Eton Forever, was receiving weight.

Despite this, the handicapper has chosen to leave St Moritz on his mark of 104, just 2lb higher than the mark off which he began this season, and that looks decidedly lenient. He is well suited by a fast-run mile on fast ground, which he should get today, he is not poorly drawn in stall eight, and it is significant that Adrian Nicholls has chosen to ride him instead of Light From Mars. He is still relatively lightly raced for a five-year-old, and Dandy Nicholls’s horses continue in fine form. He should go close.

Of the other horses that were on my shortlist, the ground should be too fast for Wannabe King, Dance And Dance was very quirky last time, and his odds this morning are not big enough to compensate for that, despite the fact that Frankie Dettori is booked, Justonefortheroad is poorly drawn (you really don’t want to be drawn high over a mile at York), Pintura is too short now and fairly exposed, while Light From Mars has been rejected by Adrian Nicholls and is poorly drawn anyway. With 18 runners and the bookmakers betting ¼ the odds a place the first four, St Moritz is an each-way bet.

ST MORITZ WON (ADV 8/1, SP 15/2)

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