Thoughts on Medrano

Medrano runs in the 1:50 at Glorious Goodwood this afternoon. Silvestre De Sousa is in the saddle for the mile and a quarter handicap. The gelding comes here having been built back from a serious injury after showing a lot of class as a three year old. The all weather racing has proved a useful building block with him needing good or easier ground to run on the turf, however the stop start pace in these races doesn’t really suit him as he is a fairly free sort and needs a good rhythm. His confidence is improving with each run and he finished with a strong flourish last time out from the back of the field. We are delighted he made the cut to get into this race and that the rain has come for him. The better pace in the higher class races should help Silvestre in settling him. These races are furiously competitive but we have a several things in our favour and if he can get back close to his very best he should be in the mix here on a course he has run well at in the past.

Afaak comes here with strong form having been second in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot, he should handle the ground and the slight increase in distance. Alfaris was the last horse to beat Rainbow Rebel who has since won three good races. Medrano actually beat Rainbow Rebel three starts back at Kempton, showing the fine margins that will come into play here. Dark Red crossed the line in front in this race last year and the ground looks to be in his favour.