4:55 – Newbury – DUBAI DUTY FREE GOLF WORLD CUP CONDITIONS STAKES (CLASS 3) (3yo) Soft 1m2f6y
In a race packed full of potential improvers the Sir Henry Cecil trained Wrotham Heath stands out as horse with real potential. The 3 year old bay colt who is owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah is a half brother to a 2 mile 5 furlong winner over fences is from a family packed with staying power.
He was a late foal not born until 5 May 2009 and as such did not make his racecourse debut until August when he finished 7th in a 13 runner field over 7 furlongs. However anything under a mile was never going to suit Wrotham Heath and he made a much better fist of things on his second and final run of the season when he won at Nottingham over 1 mile. His win was visually very impressive as he was held up in touch with the leaders before going to the front over a furlong out and asserting himself to win by 6 lengths. He was only given a hand and heals ride by his jockey who did not need to get serious on him at any time during the race.
Given his birth date Wrotham Heath will undoubtedly have strengthened up over the winter and steps up to 1 mile and 2 furlongs for his seasonal reappearance. The going at Newbury is Soft and as he has already won on Good to Soft going at Nottingham, the underfoot conditions should not inconvenience him to much. Tom Queally rides him again today, having ridden him on both of his starts last season.
Wrotham Heath has some high class entries for the coming season. He is entered in both the Grade 2 Dante Stakes at York and The Derby at Epsom, for which he is currently quoted at 33/1. He is clearly highly thought of by his connections and given his pedigree the further he goes the better he should be. Today’s race is no walkover for Wrotham Heath with three colts with decent breeding in opposition and it will be interesting to see how he fairs on his first start of the new season.
