Opposition
Opposition came back to form recently at Windsor when narrowly beaten by a short-head. He returned to action at York on Friday eleven days after that run with what looked like strong claims. He had been put up three pounds by the handicapper for his second place but he was able to run off his old mark of 81 at York.
Adam McNamara had our grey gelding beautifully settled in the early exchanges and the long striding son of Dalakhani tracked the leaders at an even pace. As they started to quicken down the home straight Opposition was being niggled along but he kept finding for pressure and entering the final furlong he had a narrow advantage over Panko. He was not to be denied and he kept finding for McNamara to win by three quarters of a length.
Given Opposition was three pounds well in, he was entitled to win this race and the handicapper cannot change his mark by much, if at all. The manner of this victory suggested that he could step up in trip in the future and he has now run well on good to soft and the top side of good and whilst we would not run him on extremes he is quite versatile. It is fantastic to get him back on song as he came home jarred up after Ascot last year and we hope he will continue to progress with racing.
Congratulations to the Highclere Melbourne syndicate who own Opposition. They also own Raucous who runs at Royal Ascot this week and we hope he can run well for you there. We are delighted that Opposition has gained his third career win and we hope there is a good handicap in him this season. Well done to everyone at La Grange, we have had three winners in the last week and Capricious Cantor ran a fine race when second in a Listed race in France yesterday, let’s hope the horses continue to run well.