Southwell Tip: Foolaad

On a few occasions i’ve spoken about how speed ratings at Southwell tend to stand up to scrutiny more than the other all-weather tracks and Foolaad could provide further evidence in the 3.05 contest.

Races over the minimum trip at Southwell are usually run at a strong gallop and that was the case in Foolaad’s race at the end of December. Crosse Fire cut out the running, to the point that everything in the race went a stride too quick. Finishing speeds were slower than par but Foolaad kept galloping and earned an impressive adjusted speed rating of 89.

Lightly raced for a 7-year-old, he has an excellent strike-rate (5/19) and is still improving. He ran a career best last time and a 6lbs rise in the weights might not stop him.

*Returned 9/2