Dubday

31st-Jul-2015

I am backing Dubday here.  I don’t think that he got the credit that he deserved for running Gospel Choir as close as he did at Newmarket last time, and he is under-rated and over-priced in my book at 7/1 or 13/2.

That was a massive run.  He tracked Gospel Choir to the two-furlong pole, and he challenged him on the run to the furlong marker.  From there, the two of them had it between them and, while Gospel Choir just prevailed, the pair of them pulled nine lengths clear of Gatewood, who was in turn nine lengths clear of the other two runners.  Gatewood is a solid 112-rated horse, and he gives solidity to the form of the race.  Also, Dubday was conceding 3lb to both Gospel Choir and Gatewood.

There was a sense afterwards that Gospel Choir needed the race, his first run in over a year, but he was reportedly ready to race, and he was strong in the market.  The more likely scenario is that Dubday stepped up a level.

Just about unbeatable in Qatar, Jassim Al Ghazali's horse ran well behind Brown Panther in the Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan in March, and he ran a nice race to finish second to Telescope on his British debut in May, when he had good horses like Windshear and Scotland behind him.  He stepped forward at Newmarket last time, and he could step forward again.  Even a similar run to his Newmarket run would see him go close.

Old friend The Corsican is obviously the one to beat.  It is still frustrating that he didn’t run in the King George, he would surely have gone close to finishing placed at least and the ground wasn’t that bad in the end.  He sets a high standard, but his cover is blown now and I am happy to leave him alone at 2/1.

Hillstar is the other big danger in my book.  He was a high-class middle distance horse last year, he won the Grade 1 Canadian International at Woodbine, and he progressed from his seasonal debut to run a nice race behind yesterday’s Goodwood Cup winner Big Orange in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes.  A similar amount of progress from that run would see him go close.

He is interesting but, at a bigger price, Dubday is the bet.

DUBDAY WON (ADV 7/1, SP 11/2)