Dunstan put in his best turf effort to date at Newbury on Friday, where he didn’t get much luck in running and with a clearer path would’ve surely finished closer to the eventual winner.
Sent off as the 33/1 outsider of the field, he sat in the rear throughout the early stages of the race, with jockey William Cox getting him into a good rhythm. Positioned close to the rail, the jockey switched right and found a good gap to run into, making good headway as they neared the final stages. Unfortunately, the eventual winner and runner-up – Great Bedwyn and Lieber Power, both came across his path and caused William Cox to pull back on Dunstan, which cost him all the momentum he had. With his chances diminished, he still managed to find enough to get past Charlie Johnston’s Open Secret to finish sixth. However, we were confident that had those two horses not blocked his path he would’ve undoubtedly finished much closer.
Jockey William Cox said after the race:
“I was really happy with his performance. I dropped him in towards the rear of the field, covering him up for as long as possible, and he travelled through the race brilliantly. I was stuck on the rail with him, but I didn’t think it would be an issue as I felt it would give him more opportunity to stay on the bridle for longer. When the race started to develop, I got a bit short of room, but when I really got him rolling we had a lovely gap appear in front of us. One horse just came across us and it completely stopped us in our tracks, which put paid to any chance we had of winning the race. With a clear run, we would’ve certainly been in the mix at the finish, so it was a bit frustrating. That being said, I’m glad with how he’s run and the effort should fill him with a lot of confidence, so hopefully he can progress from here.”
The morning after the race, trainer Paul Attwater reported:
“The horse ate up when he got back home, and finished his bowl of nuts this morning, which is a good sign. He’s come out of the race well and has trotted up sound and he seems very pleased to be back at Newlands. I’ve watched the race back numerous times now, and I think there are plenty of positive notes to take out of the performance. He travelled well, and if Will could’ve got through the gap, we’d have surely finished even closer – not sure if we’d have won but we would’ve been in the shake-up. He definitely seems to like going left-handed, and that was comfortably his best effort on turf so far. We’ll give him a few weeks, and we’ll go again with him – fingers crossed we can get that first turf win under his belt soon.”
After a couple of lesser efforts on softer ground, we were delighted to see Dunstan back to a level we know he can perform at, and it’s surely only a matter of time before he gains that elusive turf win.
You can view Dunstan’s profile HERE.
