5 ONLY HIM – 2022 TANKARD RUNNER

5 Drawn 4 57.5 4-year-old gelding

Newbury Racing (Pty) Ltd (Nom: Mr D E Evans)

Breeder: Moutonshoek Trainer: Bridget Stidolph

Breeding: Mambo In Seattle (USA) – Only Emily by Captain Al

Colours: Cerise, navy blue chevron and sleeves, cerise cap

When the betting opened this week Only Him was at 3/1 and Finchatton 33/10 so, if one wants to split hairs, Only Him was favourite.

By Mambo In Seattle (USA), Bridget Stidolph’s charge has won four of his 9 Borrowdale starts from 1200m to 2400m, including the 2021 Zimbabwe Derby (Gr3), and when he hasn’t won Only Him has usually been in close contention. Before that he raced three times in Gauteng in the Alec Laird yard and won over 1400m.

For the big race on Saturday, May 7th, Only Him is drawn well and weight-wise will meet some of his former rivals on slightly better terms – but not all. For instance, his stablemate Wantage will be receiving 1.5 kgs and he has sometimes had the upper hand at level weights. Both are distance suited, so too the other runners from the Stidolph yard – Lily Blue and Citrusdal.

Only Him’s last start was on April 24 over 1200m – a trip he has never tried before, and he finished clear of recent arrival Love The View who would also have preferred further.  It wasn’t much of a race and I didn’t expect either to shine, but class will out.

Come the day other factors will come into play such as race tactics, and a little bit of luck in the running.  There is time for punters to reach for their calculators and compare weights with distances and so forth.  I am simply going to say that Only Him must be a big runner.

Photograph by Laurent Viguie.