Another Second!

Veteran Shavansky remains in great form and ran a cracker to finish second at Lingfield and could be considered an unlucky loser as he did not have much room up the home straight. His rider Shelly Birkett received some criticism on ATR for the ride but that was probably very harsh, bearing in mind he runs best held up off the pace and the short straight at Lingfield always makes things tricky for horses like him. Shavansky clearly runs well for Shelly and people forget an apprentice claims for a reason, that five pound allowance probably enabled him to finish closer than if he had professional handling. Either way the old boy is having a cracking winter and deserves to win again soon.