Morrison’s Fantasy looks red hot
When a stable hits form, their runners are often worth a second look and this applies to the yard of Hughie Morrison who has accumulated six winners in the past fortnight. At Haydock on Friday evening, he sends out Fantasy Fry to contest the Countrywide Freight Nursery at 6.55pm, and this progressive colt can win here before going on to better things.
Having made an unremarkable debut in a maiden at Leicester, this son of Avonbridge has gradually improved, finishing fourth to Kojak at Brighton, and following that with an unlucky effort at Bath. Held up at the back, he made good progress to join the leader’s two furlongs from home. Unfortunately, he was hampered at a vital stage and by the time he regained his rhythm, Stunning In Purple had already stolen a march on the field. Despite finishing second there, it was a very encouraging performance and one that he was able to build upon.
For his final outing, he returned to Bath and on this occasion, he raced more prominently and took up the lead at the three-furlong marker. From that point on, the result was never in doubt as he soon stretched clear from his rivals until eased down in the closing stages by his jockey Steve Drowne. The winning distance of almost three lengths ahead of Rigoletto, could have been much further if his rider had so wished.
Making his handicap debut here, the handicapper appears to have been quite lenient, awarding him a mark of just 70, as Rigoletto has since gone on to score in a good maiden event at Chester, with some highly regarded performers behind him. In fact, it would surely come as a major disappointment to the Morrison camp, should the unexposed Fantasy Fry be unable to exploit such a mark.
The horse likely to give Fantasy Fry most to do is Mark Brisbourne’s filly Belle Royale, who has already proved that she is a useful performer in two-year-old handicaps. She has had a very busy juvenile campaign, running nine times to date but has been successful on two occasions. The first of her victories came back in May, in a low-grade selling contest at Goodwood, but she has improved significantly since.
Having filled the runner-up position on her first two attempts in nurseries, she went one better on her final outing over six furlongs at Chester. Driven into the lead at the furlong marker, she stayed on in good style to account for Captain Dimitrios by a very comfortable length. That run came on the first day of August and as such, has to shoulder a six-pound penalty for that win. Although she is likely to go well once again, she will have to improve significantly on what she has achieved so far, to be a threat to Fantasy Fry.
Of the remaining runners, Mick Blanshard runs an unexposed type in Arctic Mirage. Sired by Iceman, he certainly has a lot of speed in his pedigree, and following two promising runs at Windsor, he came lost his maiden tag in an ordinary contest at Chepstow last time. Travelling well in behind the leaders, he went to the front with a furlong to race and kept on well, despite drifting across the course, to score by two lengths from Summer Jasmine.
Whether that form is good enough to win here is questionable, but with only three outings under his belt, he is fully entitled to improve. It is also worth noting that the stable have had some success on their visits to this track in the past, with six winners in the past five seasons. Whilst that may look a very ordinary total, it is actually quite reasonable, as they are not a particularly large outfit.
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