SPEED FIGURES
Mike Francis with the latest show on the stopwatch
JUDICIAL (116) continued his fantastic season by scorching home to win the Listed Queensferry Stakes at Chester. Because of its tight bends, Roodee form doesn’t always work out elsewhere but Julie Camacho’s veteran had almost three lengths in hand over the six furlongs and it looks really solid form.
He could step back into Group level and land another success while in such good heart with all ground coming the same to him, including the all-weather surfaces.
Glorious Goodwood appears in this set of figures and you can see Judicial is actually rated higher than BATTAASH’s win in the King George. He didn’t have to pull out all the stops when winning that as he liked but 108 was another impressive performance.
SUPREMACY looks like a leading two-year-old on the numbers thanks to his victory in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes over six furlongs.
It was a visually impressive success by four lengths and is backed up by the clock with 109 putting him right at the top of the juvenile tree. Something like the Middle Park Stakes would be perfect for his talents.
DREAM OF DREAMS landed a deserved Group prize with a highly impressive victory in the Hungerford Stakes at Newbury. The winning margin was seven lengths and that can sometimes flatten the speed figure as his jockey didn’t have to go for everything in the closing stages.
That’s not the case here as he clocked a 108 that backed up his excellent second in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. He could be one of those horses who falls just short of Group 1 level but not if he’s able to reproduce this figure.
The main issue may be finding a top contest over seven furlongs which would appear to be his ideal trip.
With the usual caviat about Chester form, GUMDROP could defy a fairly hefty hike in the weights after winning a nursery handicap there as he liked. He got a figure of 109 which may prove to be a little generous but considering his handicap mark is 84 he should be capable of winning again over six furlongs.
Speed isn’t your first thought when assessing stayers but RHYTHMIC INTENT was full value for his figure of 100 when scoring nicely at Newbury on August 16.
He pulled right away from his rivals to win by a comfortable three lengths with the step up to 1m5f suiting really well. This was won from a mark of 90 which will be heading north but hopefully not into three figures yet.