Thoughts on Medrano

Medrano runs in the 8:00 at Kempton this evening. The gelding will be partnered by Robert Winston in the mile and a half handicap. It is his first run on the all weather but he did go for a gallop at the venue in the spring and seemed to enjoy the surface. He was a classy horse as a youngster before injury side tracked his career. On his homework he looks to retain at least some of the ability but he has not been relaxed on his two visits to the racecourse this season. We’ve returned to the hood in an effort to keep him better settled this evening and have worked him differently in preparation for this race. If he settles better tonight he should show up a lot better.

The race is a very tricky contest to assess, Medrano is not alone in having been the only horse to participate in classics in the race, quite something for a handicap on Wednesday evening. There are several horses that  are coming back from long breaks or have tried their hand at hurdling in recent times who could spring a surprise if able to reproduce past peak performances. Native Fighter  and Argus are two with more solid form in recent races, inlcuding over course and distance just below this grade and can be expected to run their respective races. However, the lightly raced Simoon is open to the type of progression that should set him up as the horse to beat after a decent first run in handicap company last time at Newmarket.