Amlad
Amlad stepped up to 1m4f for the first time at Newmarket’s July Course on Saturday afternoon. The sun shone for the first meeting of the year at the glorious summer venue and the son of Lope De Vega was notably relaxed as he walked around the pre-parade ring under the trees. He broke well from his low draw and Silvestre De Sousa soon had him at the front of affairs in an uncontested lead. Our colt set sensible fractions throughout the contest and De Sousa sat motionless as the pack began to close approaching the final two furlongs. Given it was Amlad’s first try at 1m4f there was a slight question mark to answer regarding the trip but the imposing chestnut galloped away from the field on the near-rail and won cosily by just under three lengths from the improving Maori Bob.
This was a taking performance from our colt, he looks an improving type who has a likeable attitude and the 1m4f trip has helped draw out some improvement. He will potentially get into the King George V handicap now at Royal Ascot depending on how much the handicapper puts him up. It will be harder to dictate affairs there but a solid pace should be in his favour and if he sneaks into the race he will have a low racing weight.
Congratulations must go to Amlad’s owner Mr Abdullah Al Naboodah. We hope your colt can continue to improve and win a nice race in the future. Well done to everyone here at La Grange, Amlad was the only winner over the weekend but there were many promising efforts from other runners that suggested future winners lie ahead and the hard work is starting to pay off.