Kevin Stott’s Blog: Hoping a 50-length win was no Maxident

So far so good this season! It was fantastic to get another winner on the board for AMO and Dominic Ffrench Davis on Tuesday. I’ve a few nice rides coming up so I’m hoping to continue the good luck for a while longer. 

Haydock, Saturday

Thunder Max is first for me in the 1m2f handicap (1.30pm). He’s been gelded since his last run, which was this time last year, so he’s been off the track for a while. For a four-year-old, he’s pretty lightly raced so is open to plenty of improvement. He’s been declared on good ground, but there is rain due and, if it goes soft as a result, he might not run. We want to look after him and don’t want to waste a run in the wrong conditions. His home work has been good so, if he runs, he could run well.

Next is Redzone in the six furlong handicap (2.05pm) for Bryan Smart. This gelding has been really consistent each season, with five wins and five places to his name, and he went well when finishing fourth on his return at Newcastle a few weeks ago. He’s a solid performer at this level and is pretty versatile with the ground so, if the rain does come, it won’t bother him too much. I’m looking forward to getting on him and we are hopeful for a big run.

My third (and possibly best) ride is Maxident in the Novice stakes over 1m3f (2.40pm). He absolutely bolted up at Leicester on debut lately, winning by 50 lengths when he was the outsider of the three. The ground was extremely heavy that day but, even so, you couldn’t help but be impressed. He’s a very exciting prospect moving forward. This is one who we want the rain for and it’s good that we’ve found him a good, valuable novice race to – hopefully – back up his Leicester win.

Last of the day is Hat Toss in the mile handicap (4.55pm). This is his first run since joining David Loughnane, having been in Ireland where his form was a bit in and out. A change of scene should be helpful to him, and we’ve been pleased with how he’s gone at home. We’ll learn more about him during and after the race, but let’s hope that he goes well and progresses for his new stable.