Cast No Shadow was certainly disappointing when finishing last of eight on his handicap debut at Kempton on Wednesday night.

There wasn’t as much pace in the early part of the race as we anticipated, and he was just quite keen in the early stages which was frustrating. He actually travelled well into the straight and looked like he was going nicely and was going to challenge, but once he changed his legs he just weakened out of contention in the final furlong.

We thought he was ready for the step up to 6f, but David Probert felt after the race that maybe it was slightly too far for him, so it’s back to the drawing board now.

I wouldn’t rule out trying a sharper 6f like Lingfield with him, but we probably will come back in trip and look for something over a stiff 5f if we can find a suitable opportunity in the near future.

The handicapper will hopefully drop him a bit after this, so we should have plenty of options. We can remain in handicaps, or we might consider maidens for him if we find the right race, so we’ll just see how he is over the coming days and make a plan from there.

Hugo Palmer, Coral Racing Club Trainer