8:50 – Thirsk – THIRSK £30K SUMMER CUP SATURDAY 4TH AUGUST CONDITIONS STAKES (CLASS 4) (3yo+) Soft 5f
Borderlescott may be 10 years old but he is still good enough to finish 4th in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock two starts back and against a field who’s best effort is two wins in Class 3 Handicaps he should have to much class this evening.
The bay gelding who is by sprint specialist sire Compton Place has run on the flat turf 57 times to date and has won on 12 occasions giving a winning strike rate of 21%. His has not won since Glorious Goodwood in 2010 but his last five wins have come at a much higher level than he runs at tonight, with two wins at Group 1, a Group 2 win and two wins at Listed level.
He has run four times on the turf this season and although his last run in a Listed race at Cork was not great it was in very heavy ground and he did suffer some interference. However, two runs back his fourth place in the Group 2 race at Haydock provides form good enough to win today. He was in mid-division 2 furlongs out when he was asked for his effort. He ran on well, if a little one paced to finish 4 lengths behind the winners. Considering the 1st and 2nd placed horses were Bated Breath and Sole Power this was no mean effort.
He runs over the minimum trip again this evening and in 29 runs on the turf over 5 furlongs he has won 5 times and been placed on 12 other occasions. The Soft ground at Thirsk should be fine as Borderlescott has run in Soft ground 5 times, winning twice and finishing 2nd at Chester three runs back at the May meeting. Daniel Tudhope who rode him at Chester also takes the ride this evening. Daniel is in decent form at the moment with a double at Ayr on Friday and a win and a 2nd place from three rides at Pontefract yesterday.
Borderlescott has an excellent opportunity to win his first race since July 2010. This is the first time since 2005 that he has run in a Class 4 race. He has shown with his efforts in the Temple Stakes and his 2nd place at Chester than he still has plenty of enthusiasm for the game and although he is not the force of old his class really should be good enough for his to get the better of Magical Macey this evening. In a four runner race he is currently available at odds against which looks decent value.
