Labarinto

28th-Jul-2011

Labarinto should be favourite for this in my book, and he is worth backing at 9/2.

Michael Stoute’s horse does have four lengths to find with Fulgur on their running at Newmarket last time, but there are reasons for believing that he can bridge that gap. Firstly, he has a 9lb pull with Luca Cumani’s horse. Secondly, he didn’t really have the run of the race. He went for a gap just on the far side of Fulgur two furlongs out, which Kieren Fallon closed, quite legitimately, but the net result was that Ryan Moore had to switch Labarinto back out and around on the near side, losing ground and momentum in the process. He was fighting a losing battle after that, but he kept on really nicely up the hill to finish third, in front of the useful Malthouse.

As well as that, Labarinto was weak in the market before that Newmarket race, whereas Fulgur was strong, so it is legitimate to expect that Labarinto is capable of a better performance. He is lightly raced, he has raced just three times this season and just six times in his life, he shaped with a lot of promise on his first two runs this season – he finished in front of Fulgur at Newmarket on his penultimate run in a slowly-run contest that favoured neither of them – and a 1lb hike for his latest run at Newmarket is lenient. He is well drawn on stall six, and a big run looks on the cards.

Fulgur is obviously a big danger, there shouldn’t be much between them, and I am usually more inclined to favour the horse that actually won the race next time out than the unlucky loser, and the winner is often a bigger price, but Labarinto just looks the more likely today, and he is a bigger price.

LABARINTO WON (ADV 9/2, SP 4/1)

Back