Music Master

19th-Jul-2014

Music Master looks well over-priced for this at 5/1. I thought that he was value at yesterday afternoon’s best odds of 7/2, so he is worth a decent bet at 5/1.

Henry Candy’s horse has the best recent form in the race, he is dropping down from Group 1 company into a Group 3 race, he ran as well as he ever has run on his most recent outing in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, and he is only four, he is still progressing and open to more improvement.

He ran well for a three-year-old against his elders in the Bengough Stakes at Ascot at the end of last season, finishing second to recent July Cup runner-up Tropics, who was on a real roll at the time, and he has stepped up on that effort this term.

He was an authoritative winner of a conditions race at Warwick on his first run of the season, clocking a good time despite being eased down close home. He was a little disappointing next time at Windsor behind Rocky Ground, but he had apparently missed a fair bit of work before that, having not been right after his first run back at a time when his trainer’s runners were largely under-performing. As well as that, he was ridden very aggressively that day.

He put that behind him with a really good run in the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot last time. One of five who raced down the centre of the track, he travelled really well at the rear of that group and impressed with the manner in which he made up his ground between three furlongs out and two furlongs out, quickly sweeping to the front of the group, past Due Diligence.

As it turned out, while the overall fractions for his group were efficient, the move that he made probably wasn’t. It left him in front down the centre a long way out. He was re-passed by Due Diligence close home, but he still stuck on well for fourth, with a little gap back to the rest of the field.

If he is in the same sort of form today and is ridden a little more efficiently, he should be hard to beat.

MUSIC MASTER WON (ADV 5/1 [R4], SP 3/1)

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