Clover eyeing York date for Rogue Bear after Newbury third

Step up to 10 furlongs also planned for handicapper.

A step up in trip appears on the cards for Tom Clover’s Rogue Bear, who ran with credit once again at Newbury when sent off 3-1 joint favourite for the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing 30th Anniversary Spring Cup last weekend.

Racing keenly in the early stages, jockey David Egan was one of the first to be niggling away at his mount as the race began to unfold, but the four-year-old responded gamely and kept on strongly to eventually finish third, beaten half a length in total.

Before that the gelded son of Kodiac was again on the podium when third in the Lincoln and Clover, who trains out of the historic Kremlin House Stables in Newmarket, is full of praise for the horse that has put his team in the spotlight in the early part of the season.

He said: “You should be thrilled with a good third beaten two necks in such a deep race, but gosh he deserves to win one, he’s such a gallant horse who tries his heart out.

“After the Lincoln we were considering going straight up to 10 furlongs, but when you’re favourite for a Spring Cup and the horse is in good form and you’ve not been beaten far in a Lincoln, you kind of have to roll the dice.”

Rogue Bear could now move up to 10 furlongs for the first time at the Dante meeting in May, a move that Clover believes could bring about more improvement from the horse.

“He will almost certainly be stepping up to 10 furlongs now. On his pedigree on his dam’s side that should be absolutely fine and we’ll go from there. Hopefully stepping up in trip might bring about a bit more improvement in him,” said Clover.

“Over a mile he’s one of the first off the bridle, but he stays on so resolutely, he’ll get done for that little bit of toe around the two pole and then rallies on strong.

“I imagine we might go to York for an 81-100 handicap over 10 furlongs and then maybe the John Smith’s Cup, all being well, if he was to win or go close.”

Clover was eager to praise the owners’ patience with a horse that didn’t make the track at two and has only appeared seven times in his career. He also pointed out patience could be key once again if conditions dictate a hold needs placing on Rogue Bear’s season.

He said: “I don’t think we’d run him on very quick ground, hence why he’s been out twice already at this time of year. We’ll half look after him if the ground gets too lively and then come back for a nice autumn campaign.

Haydock Park Races – June 9
Trainer Tom Clover, here pictured with Andrea Atzeni, hopes Rogue Bear can land the victory he deserves this season (David Davies/PA)

“He’s a lovely horse and the owners have been incredibly patient with him. He’s built up a lovely profile and for the horse’s sake, he really deserves to win a nice one this year.”

It was another runner for owners The Rogues Gallery syndicate that further advertised Clover’s training talents when he saddled Rogue Rocket to finish a respectable fourth in the bet365 Wood Ditton Maiden Stakes during the Craven meeting.

Although delighted with the gelding’s performance, the trainer was refusing to get too carried away and states they will just take it one race at a time with the aim of getting a win under the horse’s belt.

“It was a lovely run for a debut. We were really pleased, it was sort of the perfect first run really. We’ll stay at a mile and we’ll get him out in three weeks or so,” analysed Clover.

“It’s hard to say how good he is. He was a breeze-up purchase who cost 52 grand and it was lovely to mix it with some of the higher-profile yards in a high-profile race on ITV. It was a great day for myself and the owners to see the horse do himself and us proud in a race like that.

“But first let’s see if we can break his maiden tag and take things from there. There’s a couple of options in three weeks time and we have two more opportunities to make him a winner in maiden company before we have to look at handicaps”

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