Improving Platform Nineteen to Land Hat Trick at Beverley

Day two of the Beverley Ladies Day meeting and while Platform Nineteen may not be the highest rated horse in show here, he is certainly the most exciting animal we will be seeing today. Staying trips have brought about huge improvement in this lightly raced gelding and the sky is the limit as far as where he can go. He comes here on the back of two comfortable wins and has been given a hike in the weights because of those. However, that doesn’t look as though it will be enough to stop him, he is still on a very low mark and he is taken to land the hat trick in style in the 4:00pm staying contest.

This horse ran just once as a two year old last season and was very green, clearly having no idea about what his job actually is. We saw him twice at the beginning of this season over 1m2f and while he showed small glimpses of promise in both of those outings, he was ultimately well beaten and not suited by the trip.

The first time we saw real promise from him was at Catterick when trainer Michael Bell changed two things about the races he was running in. The first was a move to handicap company from novice races allowing him to run against horses of a similar ability and the second was a big step up in trip to two miles, which was an increase of six furlongs, a massive step up for any horse to cope with.

He was weak in the betting at Catterick, and eventually finished well to be second. He was ridden to ensure he got the trip on that occasion, and a more forceful ride would have seen him win that race, however it wasn’t to be. He stuck out then as a stayer to follow and has since won both of his two starts.

The first came here at Beverley over course and distance in a maiden handicap. That was won off a mark of 63 and he won eased down by eight lengths. The opposition that day were not very good, but the way he took them apart was hugely impressive and his victory would have made anyone who saw it stand up and take note of this horse.

Next he went to Nottingham for another low grade staying event, and had a 6lb rise in the weights to contend with. That was nowhere near enough to stop him, and again at the end of this race he was well on top, recording a winning distance of three and a quarter lengths. The manner of that victory suggests there is even more to come from him, and a 5lb penalty for that success doesn’t look enough once more. He is now up to a mark of 74, but with just six races under his belt and only three of those being over the staying trips he needs, there could be any amount of improvement to come from him.

He has still looked a little green on occasions, even when running over longer distances and that is a very positive sign for those who want to follow this lad. He will continue to naturally progress with racing and age, and there is nothing to suggest we are seeing him at anywhere near his best right now.

This is a step up in class for him as well as being a race in which he will have to carry 11lb more than when he last came to this track. However, the positives far outweigh those negatives, this looks to be a horse going places and one that can more than defy the mark he is currently on.

It has been a very impressive start to staying for Platform Nineteen, and based on what we have seen in all of his three runs over two miles, there is still plenty more to come from this lightly raced three year old.