High End to reward patience at Goodwood
Saeed bin Suroor has persevered with High End – and his efforts can finally come to fruition in the tote Foundation Stakes at Goodwood tomorrow.
Now a six-year-old, High End has been limited to just six career starts, with five of those outings coming during his three-year-old season before a 1,045 day lay-off.
He won three of those three-year-old outings and showed he had lost little of that ability when he finally made it back to the track at Sandown last month, defying a perch of 102 to be beaten just three-quarters of a length by Data Protection.
That rival was obviously race fit and already had a win under his belt. But despite losing a shoe, High End served it up to him – and Data Protection had to battle hard to seal the win.
The handicapper has boosted High End to a mark of 104 following that run – and while he has a little to find with the likes of Mythical Magic and Air Pilot, he is unexposed and could have any amount of improvement in him, as long as he can avoid the dreaded bounce factor.
There are no such concerns about Plantadream, who arrives on the back of a neck victory at Ascot on his most recent start.
He has won three of his six starts so far in 2020, notching up the first victory on the all weather back in January before storming home by seven lengths shortly after racing resumed in June.
That wide-margin win saw his rating rocket to 95, which proved beyond him on his next turf outing. But the handicapper subsequently relented a little, and Plantadream duly won off a mark of 89.
John Best’s charge looked good value for a neck at Ascot, so a rise of 3lb could be within his compass.
King Frankel was far too green on his debut to do himself justice but can be given another chance in the Download The tote Placepot App Future Stayers’ EBF Maiden Stakes.
A full brother to Group One-placed Eminent, King Frank el gave himself no chance atWolve rh ampton last month – needing to be pushed along virtually throughout the race, before his rider eased him in the home straight when clearly beaten.
Lessons will surely have been learned, and King Frankel can yet live up to his fine pedigree.
While High End can star at Goodwood for Bin Suroor, stablemate Bright Start is the choice in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap at Redcar. Beaten a length by Star Of Wins on his racecourse bow, Bright Start has gone on to finish second in each of two subsequent runs upped to a mile and a half from 10 furlongs.