Welcome winner for Top 40 Push The Limit (5/2)

It has been a lean few days for the Top 40 at the Qatar Goodwood Festival this week with a few horses either underperforming, being poorly drawn or simply not good enough. Janny Mackers certainly slotted into the last named category with a very poor effort in the ten furlongs handicap on Thursday. In addition, Cosmic Year was given an ordinary ride in the Group 3 Thoroughbred Stakes on Friday with his jockey managing to get him stuck in along the far rail in a four runner affair. There is no doubt Colin Keane is a very talented jockey - he isn't six times champion jockey in Ireland by a fluke - but his lack of experience of the British tracks has been evident since landing the Juddmonte job. His ride on Publish at Sandown in early July is another example. In Keane's defence, it can be argued that Cosmic Year may not have quite got home over the trip and will be seen to better effect over shorter trips. Either way, the son of Kingman should have been winning this on his form in the Irish 2000 Guineas. 

Thankfully, Push The Limit (5/2) redressed the balance in the concluding three year old handicap on Friday. Ralph Beckett's charge appreciated the step up in trip landing a substantial gamble in the process (available at 8/1 on Thursday). A colt by Le Havre, he had finished runner-up at Newmarket and Carlisle earlier in the year and was expected to improve over this extra distance. Overcoming a significant bump early in the homestraight, Hector Crouch's mount stayed on strongly to beat Ammes by a length and a half off a mark of 91. It wouldn't be a surprise if he stepped up even further in trip and tackled the Melrose Handicap at York (23rd August) later this month. 

On Friday afternoon, I interviewed Jamie Snowden for the new edition of One Jump Ahead. Nicky Henderson's former assistant had another excellent season last winter with a personal best 62 winners and total prize-money of inexcess of £800,000. Julius Des Pictons provided the stable with their first Grade 1 winner in the Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree in the spring. Jamie has added to his already strong team with a number of interesting recruits from both France and Ireland during the summer.