Richard Fahey column: Reflections on Shadow Army second in Prix Robert Papin

By Richard Fahey

Horse Racing

Mon July 15, 2024 · 9M ago

Our columnist reflects on Shadow Army's run in Sunday's Prix Robert Papin as well as Columnist's fourth at Newmarket.

I was pleased to see Shadow Army run a race when finishing second to Arabie in the Prix Robert Papin on Sunday.

He didn’t learn a lot on his second outing at Ascot where he was knocked over at the start and nothing went right, and at least he finished strongly at Chantilly.

You could almost argue he was a little unlucky not to finish closer, having had to come through horses.

Hopefully he can improve again for that. I've made no secret of the fact we really like the colt, but he’s just horizontal at home.

He’ll work with anything and not come off the bridle but still looked a little raw in France. He’s in races like the Richmond and the Gimcrack and we’ll make a plan nearer the time.

Two Year Olds: Ready To Run - Richard Fahey

Those sort of contests might be on the agenda for Columnist too.

We took a chance by running him over seven furlongs in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket but it looked like he didn't quite get home.

I’d imagine we’ll switch back to six next time but, like Shadow Army, he’s owned by Wathnan Racing who have a lot of good two-year-olds at the trip so we’ll see where ours slot in to the overall plans.

Moving Force joined Shadow Army at Chantilly and finished sixth. We’ve no excuses really, the last twice we’ve tried him at the top table, in the Norfolk and France, he’s just come up short so we’ll let him find his level now.

He’s a really likeable, hardy colt and I’m sure there are plenty more races to be won with him.

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