Cast No Shadow makes debut at Ripon: watch post-race interview with Paul Hanagan
25 Jul 2023
Our Hugo Palmer-trained colt, Cast No Shadow, made his debut on Saturday at Ripon in the 14:46 EBF Maiden Stakes, finishing 6th (7 ran).
The weather conditions were far from ideal at the North Yorkshire track following a flurry of rain up until race-off, which meant the ground was much softer than we'd have hoped for.
On top of that, after being drawn wide in stall 1, which is in middle of the track at Ripon, it meant that Cast No Shadow only had cover on his left side, and as a result saw him run a little green throughout the early stages after breaking slowly from the gates.
After the first couple of furlongs, Paul Hanagan [jockey] managed to get him settled into a nice enough rhythm as he latched onto the main pack, but when they approached the closing stages, Cast No Shadow was again pushed wide, right into the middle of the track, hampering his chance to make any real progress in the race. After that, Paul just allowed him to finish the race in his own time without putting him under any strong pressure.
As with any two-year-old on their first racecourse appearance, it was all about learning the ropes for Cast No Shadow on Saturday, and for the fact that plenty went wrong for him on the day, he'll still have hopefully learned plenty which will put him in good stead for his next race.
Paul Hanagan, the two-time Flat Champion Jockey, described Cast No Shadow as "an absolute gent" in terms of his behaviour, which was a real positive to hear, especially for his first official outing, and he believes that Cast No Shadow would have finished a lot closer to the winner had he not been drawn wide and been bumped in that direction constantly.
Watch the post-race interview with Paul to hear what else he had to say about Cast No Shadow's debut run.
The weather conditions were far from ideal at the North Yorkshire track following a flurry of rain up until race-off, which meant the ground was much softer than we'd have hoped for.
On top of that, after being drawn wide in stall 1, which is in middle of the track at Ripon, it meant that Cast No Shadow only had cover on his left side, and as a result saw him run a little green throughout the early stages after breaking slowly from the gates.
After the first couple of furlongs, Paul Hanagan [jockey] managed to get him settled into a nice enough rhythm as he latched onto the main pack, but when they approached the closing stages, Cast No Shadow was again pushed wide, right into the middle of the track, hampering his chance to make any real progress in the race. After that, Paul just allowed him to finish the race in his own time without putting him under any strong pressure.
As with any two-year-old on their first racecourse appearance, it was all about learning the ropes for Cast No Shadow on Saturday, and for the fact that plenty went wrong for him on the day, he'll still have hopefully learned plenty which will put him in good stead for his next race.
Paul Hanagan, the two-time Flat Champion Jockey, described Cast No Shadow as "an absolute gent" in terms of his behaviour, which was a real positive to hear, especially for his first official outing, and he believes that Cast No Shadow would have finished a lot closer to the winner had he not been drawn wide and been bumped in that direction constantly.
Watch the post-race interview with Paul to hear what else he had to say about Cast No Shadow's debut run.
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