Sandown 26/5/2022
6:15 Sandown
5f Coral National Stakes Listed Race (2yo)
I have been waiting for this race all week!
Rumstar is a very interesting proposition here. Based in Upper Lambourn, his trainer, Jonathan Portman is bang in form winning 5 from 16 races in the last 14 days with a 31% strike rate. He doesn’t have the best record with 2yo’s over the last 5 years but he’s got a good colt on his hands with Rumstar.
The current British champion all weather jockey David Probert is a strong jockey booking. He will be reunited with Rumstar after performing well on him for both the 2yo’s debut and his win in the following race. David has currently won 13 rides from the last 69 giving him a respectable 19% strike rate. He is good at riding 2yo which is a definite plus.
The breeding of Rumstar is impeccable. He is bred to be a sprinter with Havana Grey as the sire and Sakhee’s Secret as the sire on the dam’s side. This a particularly good combination. His dam, the heavily raced Stellarta, won a class 2 so was a reasonably classy animal. She was never outside the first 3 places in the 7 races that comprised her 2yo career. Stellarta was a sprinter and only ever won at 5f and 6f.
Rumstar has put in excellent performances on both good and good to firm going. Putting on my weather man’s hat I can see that there is no more rain forecast today and tomorrow should be a lovely sunny day. The current ground is good to soft which Rumstar should take in his stride as his sire won a 5f g1 on good to yielding and a 5f g3 on soft. I expect the going to be good by the start of racing tomorrow. He has a good draw which should serve him well.
His first run was an eyecatcher. Slowly away and short of room near the finish he recovered to just miss out by a head, running the race in a good time. He ran his second race in a faster time but appeared to win comfortably. He got out well and forged clear in the last furlong, winning by 3.5 lengths. It was an impressive performance to be laid down by such an inexperienced horse.
Unlike Crispy Cat the Varian trained Tajalla is genuinely fast and judging by the breeding it’s no surprise. This is a proper sprinter but the chances are that he will prefer 6f. If not now certainly in the long run. Tajalla’s draw sucks. Claiming 5lb the filly Maria Branwell is fast and likely to improve but had to work hard in a big field to win on her debut. She may find she has a harder challenge on her hands against the colts. In the long term she should be more suited to 7f or 1m.
I never meant to write a tip the same size as one of my blogs but here it is!
Rumstar EW 12/1 Bet365 Bog 1/5 1-3