MR SWIVELL
Epsom, 5 June
It may be that Mr Swivell is better on an artificial surface, but he has won twice and placed four times from twelve turf starts too. I thought this was a promising effort, as he stepped forward dramatically from his seasonal return under an overly aggressive ride.
Mr Swivell put in some quick sectionals in the early part of this race and was asked to quicken again rounding the home turn as he went clear. The writing was on the wall early in the straight and he faded inside the final furlong, before being eased near the line.
It was a much better run than both the form figure and distance beaten suggest. The handicapper will likely ease him for this, and he could start to look fairly treated again. He was progressive last year, and I don’t think another win is as far away as it may seem.
VINTAGE CLARETS
Epsom, 6 June
Vintage Clarets has appeared in this column a couple of times before. Looking at his profile, a current mark of 83 looks attractive and I was tempted by him ahead of the “Dash” at Epsom. Even though I didn’t part with funds, I was keeping an eye on him during the race and felt slightly fortunate that I wasn’t left to rue my decision.
He came from off the pace as he usually tends to, following a similar path to the winner but always behind him. When the winner went to make his challenge, Vintage Clarets was temporarily held up in his run, just as he was really starting to find full stride. He ran on again once in the clear and while it is hard to say he would have won, he certainly would have been closer than the length at the line.
As mentioned above, he looks well treated on his old form now, and his profile suggests that he is coming towards his time of year too, with all eight handicap wins coming from the middle of June onwards.
DREAM COMPOSER
Epsom, 6 June
In the same contest, I was also quite taken with the efforts of Stormy Impact and Dream Composer. For the purposes of this column as I don’t want to fill the column with runners from the race, I’ve sided with the latter who has multiple reasons for upgrading his run here.
He was even further back than Vintage Clarets after the opening furlong and was still near last approaching halfway. However, he was much better in the second half of the race and was the quickest in the field for the final sectional. He probably wasn’t helped by his draw in stall 6 either, with the first six home all drawn in double figures.
Furthermore, the ground was softer than ideal. I felt it was soft ground by the dash (officially updated after it) and despite having a good overall strike rate, he hasn’t won on ground primarily described as soft in ten starts. On nicer ground, he still looks well handicapped, as the eight-year-olds form would suggest.
YORK TOWER
Epsom, 6 June
York Tower was making his handicap debut here, shaping well despite appearing to be far from the finished article and still showing signs of inexperience. The Call To Mind gelding was expected to improve for this step up in trip and on this evidence he may even need further.
The first three home filled those positions early (albeit in a different order), but York Tower was further back. Those four pulled eleven lengths clear of the remainder here, and York Tower is the beaten horse I want to take from it. He didn’t look all that comfortable on the track, especially rounding the home turn and down the straight.
Despite this, he still covered the final furlong quicker than anything. I think another step up in distance and with the benefit of this experience, he could be hard to beat on a more conventional track. I will be disappointed if he doesn’t finish the season higher than his current mark of 78.
NIGHT BREEZE
Epsom, 6 June
Night Breeze travelled through this contest like much the best horse but was outstayed in the testing conditions by the eventual winner inside the final furlong. As his previous wins all came with “good” somewhere in the description, I think the ground might just have got him beat here.
He poked the eye out through the race, and he was always the one I was drawn to. The six-year-old hit the front very briefly inside the penultimate furlong but at the furlong pole he looked like he was starting to tire and eventually finished over a length adrift of the winner, clear of the rest.
Night Breeze has progressed from a mark of 62 on his first start over this trip on turf and his form figures over the distance on grass read 111415321412. His current mark of 91 before any adjustment for this may have been a career high one, but there may still be a little more to come from him on good ground.
PARTISAN HERO
Epsom, 6 June
Partisan Hero is another who certainly would have preferred it if at least some of the rain had stayed away from the Downs on Saturday. All five of his turf wins had “good” somewhere in the description and his form figures on soft or worse prior to this read 0006.
Despite the ground being against him, he still produced a big effort until his stamina possibly gave way late on after being up there throughout. The early pace was strong, with the eventual winner coming from well off the pace, and Partisan Hero’s FSP of 93.16% suggests he didn’t use his energy efficiently.
The six-year-old is on a career high mark, but he progressed through 2025 from a mark of 70 to 91, having been lightly raced before then. I think he might continue that trend in 2026, even if it isn’t quite as steep. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t end the season higher and he’s unexposed at sprint distances.
