In his latest article for kwiff, trainer Ross Burdon looks ahead to Mesaafi’s bid for glory in the London Sprint Series Final at Kempton, where Waistcoat also returns to action after missing a planned outing at Newmarket.
Mesaafi targets London Sprint Series Final glory at Kempton
Stable star Mesaafi needed to win last week to be able to pick up a ratings penalty and ensure a spot in this week’s London Sprint Series Final – and win he did, just!
After travelling strongly in behind the leaders under Jack Mitchell, Mesaafi challenged up the inner rail, something usually disadvantageous at Kempton, managing to sneak up a gap he was barely big enough to fit through and prevailing by the smallest of margins.
It was a career-first success at the track after some near misses, including when not beaten far into fourth in the final of this series last year, booking our ticket to this year’s final in the process.
That final comes pretty quickly, just nine days after last week’s race, but Mesaafi has backed up two wins quickly in the past, so the sharp turnaround doesn’t worry me too much.
This year, we get the luxury of jumping from stall two, rather than the second-widest berth last year, which should give us a much better chance of getting into a nice rhythm behind the pace and trying to ride a race similar to last week’s.
It’s a great pot for a small yard like us to aim at, with £36,078 going to the winner, which essentially means this has been targeted for some time by some of the trainers with runners this evening.
Both of the top two in the race fit that category, with Berkshire Whisper and Fast Track Harry being kept off the all-weather for most of the summer since they qualified.
Waistcoat returns after Newmarket disappointment
Also on Wednesday evening, we run Waistcoat, also in the RB Racing Syndicate ownership, after he was a late non-runner at Newmarket this past Friday owing to a heavy downpour turning the Rowley Mile soft literally 60 minutes before he was due to run.
Gareth, as he’s known at home, has been in great form at home since his last run, and I was actually gutted not to run at Newmarket as I thought the race would really suit him.
He hasn’t actually ever won over 7f but has been placed twice over tonight’s course and distance, on both of his most recent visits to Kempton, and is well drawn to hopefully run well again.
Ross Burdon’s Kempton runners
| Horse | Race time | Race |
|---|---|---|
| Waistcoat | 19:00 | Kempton Handicap (7f) |
| Mesaafi | 19:30 | London Sprint Series Final Handicap (6f) |
Reflecting on last week’s runners
We had seven runners last week, which is quite possibly the most we’ve saddled in a week up until now, and I had set a target of at least two winners from the week, but unfortunately had to settle with just Mesaafi winning on the Monday.
The majority of our runners all performed with credit though, with Captive Beauty finishing second and Ernie’s Valentine finishing second.
Captive Beauty should improve over longer trips
Captive Beauty ran a much better race than on her previous start, beating all bar runaway winner Girls Allowed despite being slowly into stride.
She is a filly that is super laid back at the races and isn’t quite the finished article yet, but she should improve over the winter as she steps up in trip. Her mother was placed at 1m4f, and it may be that running over a mile is a bare minimum for our filly.
Ernie’s Valentine still loving his racing
For the second time since his return from a summer holiday, Ernie loomed up over a furlong out, only for his run to flatten out and finish placed rather than winning, which at some point during both those races looked certain to happen.
Whether Ernie is in need of a little help in the form of some headgear or whether he just needs a slightly longer trip these days, I’m not sure at the minute. What I do know is, for a horse who soon turns eight, he’s absolutely loving life and his racing.
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