“A stat not to be missed” – Godolphin-owned Golden Horn colt makes handicap debut off 63

Adrian Wall has found a statistic that is not to be missed and the runner in question goes to Wolverhampton on Friday night.

John Gosden, just like Aidan O’Brien, is a big time trainer. Godolphin are huge spenders in this game and they aren’t interested in owning very average horses. The people at the very top don’t mess about and they certainly aren’t usually interested in Class 5 handicaps at Wolverhampton.

As a result, you may be wondering then why they team up with a horse rated just 63 tomorrow night. Running in the 6.45pm at Wolverhampton, Bosphorus will run in a mediocre Class 5 apprentice handicap.

Stat Attack

The last time John Gosden had a runner in a handicap rated just 63 or less was way back on February the 6th, 2019. Named Beehar, the horse ran in a Kempton handicap off 60 and actually fell. Let’s hope that is not a bad omen.

However, it just proves how rare it is for Gosden to send out a runner rated this low. It is even more rare for Godolphin to be bothered with him. Their “poor” purchases usually get bought cheaply by the likes of Denis Hogan and Stuart Williams.

Pedigree & Form

A beautifully bred son of Arc winner Golden Horn, Bosphorus should be so much better than what he has shown on the track to date. The dam line is also full of Group winners.

He has yet to fulfil any of his paper promise on the track, well beaten off on all three starts to date at Chelmsford and Kempton. It is a surprise that connections haven’t got shot of him already so the fact they persist is extremely interesting.

Improvement must be anticipated stepping into handicap company from such a lowly mark and the step back in trip should also suit.

Seven pound claimer Benoit de la Sayette will take another half stone off his back. This is a jockey that could go all the way to the top and he has ridden five winners from nine rides in 2021 to date.

It’s last chance saloon for this horse and if he fails to impress again, we may well see him lining up at the Curragh for Denis Hogan this summer.