In the Smarkets Fortune Stakes (3.15) at Sandown on Wednesday, Zhui Feng has finished last on both starts at Ascot since making all to beat three rivals in a similar race at Windsor in June, but Sandown lends itself well to his customary forcing style and it’s actually slightly surprising that he hasn’t been tried over a mile here before.
The horse that he beat at Windsor, Oh This Is Us, has been in the form of his life recently, winning a handicap over 7½ furlongs at Chester in convincing style and failing by a neck and short-head to overhaul Mutashry and D’bai in the Group 2 Park Stakes at Doncaster on Saturday, while the third, Gabrial, also won a small conditions stakes race at Epsom on his next start. The form definitely looks much better than it did at the time and, although Zhui Feng needs to stage a revival, having failed to beat a single one of his last 28 rivals, he finish only twenty-fifth of 30 prior to winning at Windsor and has been an ‘all or nothing’ sort for most of his career.
I dare say he’s been called a few choice names in his time, but granted that consistency isn’t his strong suit, his career record of five wins from twenty-six races is all the more creditably. Three of his four wins on turf have come on good to firm going, but the other came on good to soft so, with a settled forecast for Esher over the next day or two, he should have underfoot conditions to his liking. He’s drawn in stall five of nine, but any bias in the draw at Sandown is only slight, especially in a single-figure field, so hopefully he’ll put his put foot forward on this occasion.
Selection: Sandown 3.15 Zhui Feng to win 8/1