All good things come in threes, indeed. Healing Power won, as hoped, from the front, and doing so in nice style. He was too good this time, with the ideal race from the front. He was a huge drift out to 7/1 SP surprisingly.

Gobi Sunset was only late beaten; he ran well, but perhaps the drift in the betting suggested he wasn’t quite 100% on his comeback run this time, as he tiered quickly inside the final furlong. One to keep in mind for another time.

……

4.50 Southwell: Classified Stakes, 6f

There are question marks over May Remain at the age of 8 and after missing a recent assignment due to travel problems. A wide draw is far from ideal either. On the other hand, if there are no other underlying issues, I do believe he enjoys a class edge in this poor contest.

Obviously I did back him last time out at Wolverhampton, and rued the decision, as I actually foresaw what would happen from his wide draw as he was caught wide and never stood a chance. Therefore, the run can be ignored, in my view.

Am I about to make the same mistake twice? Possibly, but possibly not. Southwell is different to Wolverhampton, and the 12 draw in these conditions is no advantage but neither as dramatic a disadvantage either, especially in this field, where there is little pace to fear from the lower gates.

That means May Remain should find it not too difficult to cross over and find himself in an ideal spot, without wasting tons of energy. If that does work out this way indeed, then he will have a huge chance to win, now that he races over 6 furlongs again.

He doesn’t stay 7 furlongs. He never truly did. With that in mind I was repeatedly impressed how well the veteran has performed this winter over a trip stretching him to the absolute limit. He ran well more often than not, and showed a good attitude at the same time.

In my view, in a Handicap over 6f with a good draw, he would be a good chance of his last handicap mark (54). He’s down to 50, though, and that makes him eligible to run in this contest.

If I am correct in believing the lto run has falsely led to this reduction in his rating, given he had no chance from his draw that day, then he’s clearly better than the vast majority of horses in this really poor Classified Stakes.

In any case, for what it’s worth, the big prices are quickly vanishing for May Remain this evening. Thankfully I started checking the exchanges early enough to get bits and pieces on throughout to get my full stake matched at a nice overall price, although no chance to get the earlier 8’s+.

If things don’t work out on Sunday, he’s got an entry next Tuesday at Newcastle in a similar race.

10pts win – May Remain @ 7/1