High hopes for gelding with a royal pedigree
REACHING High is regally bred in more than one respect and looks ready to start upholding family honour in the Racecourse Live Streams On Racing TV Extra Handicap at Leicester.
The son of Sea The Stars is out of 2013 Ascot Gold Cup winner Estimate, a mating put together by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
He carries the colours inherited by the King and Queen and appears to be heading in the right direction this term after lacking maturity as a twoyear-old.
Reaching High returned to action with a solid sixth behind Harper’s Ferry in a hot Windsor maiden that has worked out well and then showed plenty of promise when second on his handicap debut at Chelmsford.
Primo Lara proved just too good that day but there is no disgrace in that, as he followed up with a comfortable triumph in a higher grade at York despite being handed a 5lb uplift.
Sir Michael Stoute still has a bit of work to do with Reaching High judged on the way he reared in the stalls before that last start, but the gelding clearly has potential and moving up in distance should help his cause.
Under Siege can be considered most unfortunate to come up against a couple of formidable foes so far and deserves a change of luck in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes.
Andrew Balding’s charge made an eyecatching debut when staying on to finish second of 17 at Newbury and that form received a significant boost when the winner Economics bolted up by six lengths in the
Dante.
It was a similar story at York for Under Siege, as the son of Wootton Bassett kept on to fill the runner-up spot behind impressive scorer Lead Artist, who is now being talked about as a Group One prospect.
Chase A Fortune can kick things off at Southwell by taking the Prestige Safety ‘Your Trusted Safety Partner’ Handicap Chase.
Chris Grant’s front-runner has been in decent form since a wind operation in January, and racing on a good surface at a sharp track should be in his favour.
Taste The Fear is taken to complete a course and distance hat-trick in the Prestige Safety First Aid Training Handicap Chase, while Hell Hound came from off the pace to land a 16-runner Ludlow bumper under a confident ride from Jonathan Burke and appeals on his jumping bow in the Prestige Safety Fire Risk Assessments “National Hunt” Maiden Hurdle. Godolphin colt Al Qudra can take advantage of a drop in class and step up in distance for the Get Raceday Ready/EBF Novice Stakes at Lingfield. The son of No Nay Never cost 425,000 guineas as a yearling and has not been beaten far in two outings at Newmarket so far.
Charlie Appleby will be keen to find a cure for his tardy starts, but the ability is definitely there once he gets the hang of things.
Laoisman was unlucky not to land a four-timer when second to Katey Kontent at Windsor last time out.
The Sean Woods-trained fouryear-old continues to creep up the ratings ladder but the way he travels so strongly in his races suggests that he has the scope to cope and another big run is expected in the Download The Racecourse App Raceday Ready Handicap.