It is back to Ireland for this
update as in Britain the one novice hurdler who had looked capable of
developing into a Supreme Novices’ horse was beaten, showing signs of
immaturity and waywardness in the process. Mr Mole has significant potential
but the fierce hold he took and his tendency to hang left late in races leave
him with questions to answer. Far more amenable this weekend was Jezki, who ran out an ultra-impressive
winner of the Grade 3 hurdle for four-year-olds at Naas.
Jezki ended last season as one of
Ireland’s best bumper horses, winning twice and only beaten in the notably competitive
Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival. Jessica Harrington’s four-year-old
son of Milan started his career in January in a warm looking bumper where he faced an
odds shot trained by Dermot Weld, Silver Concorde, and a well regarded newcomer
trained by Noel Meade, Ned Buntline. Jezki, understandably, took a while to
settle on his race debut, eventually dropping back to the rear with his rider in
search of cover. As the runners entered the home straight, he circled the
field, finding himself in a battle with Ned Buntline. The race was in doubt for
a moment but a useful looking turn of foot saw him home, winning cosily
in the end. Ned Buntline ran again for the first time in another bumper on Saturday, on the same
card as Jezki, and he slaughtered his field thereby adding
further merit to the debut performance of Jessica Harrington’s charge.
This run promised much for the
future and on his next start in March, Jezki proved he had learnt from his
initial experience, winning very easily, looking a high class animal in the
process. Here he displayed his inherent speed, travelling smoothly through the
race before cruising to victory from his stablemate The Big Easy, a gelding
destined for chasing. There was little of note behind but this style of victory
put him into the picture for the Cheltenham bumper and whilst it was just ten
days later, Jezki had hardly had a race so there was every reason to go.
Jezki was very keen as the tapes
went up at Cheltenham but he was soon settled in rear of mid-division. He
maintained his position well through the race, moving comfortably into
contention coming down the hill before his effort flattened out. Whether this
was down to a lack of stamina, having looked a speed horse up until then, or a
lack of experience, having only had the two races, this was still an
encouraging run, eventually finishing eighth. The loss of his unbeaten tag may
have been disappointing but it did not take away from his promising first
season and a successful career over hurdles was in prospect.
After a pipe-opener on the flat,
where Jezki finished fifth behind the likes of Go Native and Glam Gerry,
Jessica Harrington’s charge began his hurdling career over two miles at Naas (29th October). There looked to be one serious rival beforehand and so it
proved with impressive bumper scorer Ally Cascade, another for Noel Meade,
fighting out the finish with Jezki, leaving the rest a distance behind. The
race was run at a steady gallop with Jezki always travelling sweetly. His
jockey, Barry Geraghty decided to track Ally Cascade until the two were clear
and Jezki’s turn of speed saw him swoop by while the runner up merely plugged
on. On the evidence of this run the front two look high class recruits, with
Jezki’s pace proving the difference, and Ally Cascade may well become high
achieving novice hurdler once upped in trip.
On his first start over hurdles,
Jezki travelled well, jumped neatly and displayed his potent turn of foot. This
was all again on display at the weekend on his first foray into graded company.
In this early season test for four-year-olds, Jezki moved smartly through
the race before pulling away after the last for an emphatic eight length win.
Even when messed about at the final two flights by the runner up, Un Beau
Matin, Jezki jumped quickly, displaying a sure-footedness that can only hold
him in good stead for the future. The form in behind Jezki though is very
questionable as his main market-rivals ran no race at all and he was getting
nearly a stone from the fourth placed runner, favourite, Hisaabaat. Un Beau
Matin had also not shown a great deal in his two starts since arriving from France. It was
almost certainly a career best from Gordon Elliott’s son of Sagamix and it may
be unwise to underestimate him in similar events for such a talented trainer, while
at the same time, I wouldn’t be overly keen to back him to confirm the form with those
in behind.
There are significant doubts over
the strength of this race and Jezki will have to show significant improvement
to be considered as a potential Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner, but what is so
appealing about Jezki is that, in all likelihood, he will do. For a horse
with so much natural speed he has been excelling on ground that would surely
not see him to best effect and in winning a graded race by eight lengths on the
bridle he has performed in the style of a high class hurdler. The real test
will come when he makes the leap into Grade 1 company in the Royal Bond. If he
shows up well there, and there is no reason to think he is not capable, then he
becomes a real contender for the top honours come March. Even if he is beaten,
Jezki is not necessarily one to give up on as the prevailing ground in Ireland
will always blunt his speed to an extent, a situation which he is unlikely to
face at Cheltenham.
I have already discussed Sizing Rio here on the back of
his debut over hurdles, in which he looked an exciting prospect. A rise in class
was expected for Henry De Bromhead’s charge and on Sunday at Navan he took this
rise firmly in his stride. Sent off the 4/5 favourite, Sizing Rio, who may
require a decent pace to run at, took up the running from the third flight. He
again showed his enthusiasm for jumping with one particularly special, race
sealing leap at the last. He jumps in the style of a chaser and his trainer
suggested that is where his future lies.
This was not the saunter to victory
that his hurdling debut was and, jockey, Andrew Lynch had to shake him up to
see off the attentions of Ted Veale but as soon as it was needed he found what
was required on the run-in. Ted Veale was a very useful horse in bumpers and
his victories in a maiden flat race and two subsequent hurdle races marked him
out as a classy individual for Tony Martin. Just the heavy ground over an
inadequate trip next time saw him disappoint. Some may be concerned that Sizing
Rio only narrowly defeated Ted Veale but he is an underrated novice hurdler and the
winner’s superiority over the runner-up and the rest of the field is probably
far greater than it seemed here and he is still in the Supreme picture.
It is a slight worry however, in
terms of Supreme Novice aspirations, that Sizing Rio’s trainer sees him as a “big
raw four-year-old” as he may be willing to skip the punishing test of the Cheltenham
Festival at this stage with the ultimate aim of returning there for tests over fences. There
is still plenty of time for connections to decide which direction to go in and
the intention now is to take a break until a Christmas. A much bigger worry is
Sizing Rio’s dislike for travelling around left-handed bends. It was plain to
see during Sunday’s race that Andrew Lynch was struggling to manoeuvre this
scopey gelding around the turns and with Cheltenham in mind, it is hard to
envisage a scenario where a horse with these problems could compete. Sizing Rio
appears to be an extremely talented novice who jumps fluently, consistently
making ground at his hurdles, but until there are signs that he is over his
dislike for left-handed turns or they make Cheltenham right-handed, he has to
be viewed with a considerable degree of caution.
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