DAILY RACING PREVIEW BY ANDY HOLDING
THURSDAY JUNE 4
3.00 UTTOXETER
SECRET TRIX may have got beaten 10 lengths over today’s C&D, but it was in a race way better than the one he faces on his return visit and Olly Murphy’s gelding rates a strong choice to assert his superiority significantly back down in class.
A creditable third on his first outing post wind surgery back in April, the nine-year-old faced a similarly tough exam against Class 2 opponents at the Midland venue a month later and despite not improving on his finishing position, the quality of the race borne out by its speed figure suggested he had run a career high.
Clearly well suited by today’s track based on most of his previous outings, a repeat of his latest effort or the one that saw him victorious here last July on soft ground would suffice.
SECRET TRIX – 1-point win@15-8
3.51 HAMILTON
Eternal Force bids to atone for his disappointing run in the Lincoln back in March but his long raid up north may not turn out to be a comfortable experience up against the locally trained ALTAREQ, who caught the eye in a massive way in a warm handicap at York last month.
Having his first start for Jim Goldie, the four-year-old unfortunately bagged the outside gate (stall 17 of 17) on the Knavesmire and, as a result, he was hooked back exiting the stalls and dropped right out in the rear.
Still a long way last turning for home, the son of Frankel made relentless headway all the way down the straight and by the time he had hit the line, he somehow managed to get the margin down to just over a length.
Considering he forfeited the thick end of 10 lengths in the early stages, it is easy to draw to the conclusion he was by some way the best horse in the race and if working around that theory, a slight adjustment of his rating to 83 will not be enough to prevent this lightly raced gelding from being competitive here today and in many future events of a similar nature.
ALTAREQ – 1-point win@7-2