The second horse to run that day was BUCKLAND BEAU. He had been in great form at home and did a very promising piece of work on the Cambridge Road gallop the previous week, so I thought he would go very close. Disappointingly, it became apparent a very long way from home that things were not right and he was eased right down before the finish. Subsequently absolutely nothing has come up to explain his poor performance. I don’t think I have got a sounder horse in the yard, and he was barely blowing by the time he got back to the racecourse stables, so Freddie Tylicki and I have come to the conclusion that he simply didn’t act on the ground. He did run well on soft ground at Nottingham first time out this season, but the ground on Monday was heavy and sometime soft ground horses simply don’t act on ground that bad. Either way the horse has come back in one piece, which was my initial concern, and he will live to fight another day.
This week is also going to be relatively quiet, and with both ACCESSION and PEARL ICE needing rain if they are going to line up for their respective races, we could find ourselves with no runners this week. Next week, however, promises to be far busier as we chase that elusive second winner of the year.
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