Ropey Guest embarks on winter break

Group-placed runner hit the bar again at Newmarket

George Margarson’s Ropey Guest has run his last race of the season after edging closer to an elusive Group victory at Newmarket on Saturday.

The two-year-old hit the woodwork for a fourth time in Group company when Roger Teal’s Kenzai Warrior denied him the Horris Hill Stakes by just half a length.

The performance follows a handful of valiant efforts, including third places in the Autumn Stakes, the Somerville Tattersall Stakes and the Acomb Stakes, that leave the colt still waiting for his first victory.

“He’s come back bucking and kicking so I think he’s happy,” said Margarson.

“He’s a horse that thrives on work, but he’s finished for the season. He’s run 10 times, they’ve been well spaced out but we will put him away now. Whatever he’s done, it’s enough.

“He’s in very good nick, he’s a horse that has improved and learnt on the job, he’s still only a two-year-old.

Ropey Guest’s notable consistency has seen his stock continually rise.

Once a 200-1 shot for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, the colt headed to post for his most recent Group venture at a heavily diminished price of 8-1.

The son of Cable Bay led the field inside the final furlong on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, only for the unbeaten Kenzai Warrior to sweep in from the far side as the line approached.

“It’s a shame he got nodded on the line, the race could have just moved his way a bit,” Margarson said of the performance.

“He was on the stands side, but the winner came up the middle.”

The colt retains his maiden tag despite a busy and impressive two-year-old season, with his trainer intending to capitalise on that when planning his three-year-old campaign.

“What’s on our side next year is that he’s still a maiden. So that’d be a good place to start – in a maiden somewhere.

“We don’t have any fancy plans for him, though we will enter him in the big races like the (2000) Guineas. But that’s a dream.”

Follow us on Twitter racing365dotcom and like our Facebook page.

Latest