Eyecatchers and horses to follow October 2019
Cochise – Bath Wednesday 16th October 2019
The 3-year-old gelding trained by Roger Charlton, Cochise won his race at Bath very nicely.
Settled behind the leaders he travelled strongly in the mid-pack throughout the early stages. Entering the straight he made up ground without ever being asked too much by his jockey. Two furlongs out he closed in on the strong traveller leader and favourite Quel Destin and went past him quite easily. At this point, the race was as much as over and it could be argued that Cochise could have stretched on more if challenged harder.
He appeared to win with a bit to spare. The first 3 finishers pulled 16 lengths clear of the fourth horse by the finish, with the right horses, the favourite and 2nd favourite filling the places behind the winner.
Before getting too carried away, this wasn’t a great race, a class 5 Bath handicap, but it appeared fairly competitive for a race of its nature. At present Cochise is a pretty average performer. He’s off a low mark, winning off 62 here, there is plenty of upside to this rating if things have started to click with him.
Lightly raced, just his 6th run, he has the profile of a horse on an upward curve. Roger Charlton doesn’t over race his horses and Cochise has the look of a late developer that has more improvement to come.
This was Cochise’s first run on soft ground, clearly, it suited him very well. If you watch the race back you will notice he has quite a high knee action and it may prove that soft ground is a requirement for him to produce optimum performances.
Looking at his breeding. Cochise’s dam, Ships Biscuit also foaled the decent Sir Michael Stoute stayer Mekong, who is at his best on very soft ground. Cochise’s sire Intello had a predilection for soft ground and is an influence on stamina. I suspect Cochise will prove to be at his best on soft ground at extreme staying distances.
With just a couple of weeks left of the current turf flat racing season, it’ll be interesting to see whether connections chose to turn him out again relatively quickly or if even they can find another suitable race for him before the season’s done.
I wouldn’t be too concerned if he doesn’t run again this year. He looks like a late developer and one who may benefit from a bit more time to mature. He is certainly a prospect to look forward to next year in staying handicaps when the ground comes up soft.
