PLEDGE OF HONOUR, won at Nottingham yesterday, following up his success at Yarmouth eleven days previously.
Ridden by Charlie Bennett, the 6yo bay gelding, seems to prefer good or quick ground and although the ground has eased slightly to Good with a going stick reading of 6.9, he came through it nicely, winning by half a length from Amalfi Bay
Nine lined up for the 1m2f furlong handicap for four-year-olds and upwards rated 0-75 and the 67-rated 9/2 shot was steadied at the start and held up in rear. Charlie Bennett rode the horse over three furlongs out and switched him right two from home. The pair went second and challenging in the last half furlong, led to get up in the dying strides.
As he only won by half a length, the Godolphin-bred son of Shamardal shouldn’t go up in the handicap too much. He was winning today still off a mark eight pounds lower than his first win at Newbury back in September 2020. Flat galloping tracks such as Yarmouth and Nottingham seem the key to him as does the 10 furlong trip.
Nottingham seems to be one of the luckier tracks for the yard as this was Harper Lodge Farm’s 18th win at a strike rate of 12%. It’s the second most winning turf track for the trainer, Windsor being the leading grass course in terms of wins since Ken handed over the training licence back in 2002.
As for jockey Charlie Bennet, he was riding his second winner for the stable, having won on Pledge last time out at Yarmouth.
There is plenty of racing coming up during the summer and the stable is looking forward to kicking on with more winners. If you would like to get involved in ownership, there’s always room for a nice horse at Harper Lodge Farm. Please contact Dean Ivory at the Racing Office on 01923 855 337 to arrange a stable visit.