More Black Type For Master Carpenter

Stable star Master Carpenter has had a very successful 2014 and proved his Greenham third was no fluke by finishing third in the Sandown Classic Trial and then runner-up in a Newmarket Listed event at the weekend.

As he stayed on strongly in the Greenham, backed up by his pedigree, we felt that Master Carpenter would stay ten furlongs and when the Sandown Classic Trial re-opened, we felt it was worth an entry as we were guaranteed to get ease in the ground. However, we did not expect the ground to be so soft come raceday and like most horses that ran there, Master Carpenter found it pretty hard work and never moved as fluently as normal. He still put up a valiant effort to finish third to Western Hymn (a possible Derby candidate for John Gosden) but it did not really tell us what his optimum conditions were.

Last weekend there were two possible Listed races for him to tackle, one over seven furlongs, the other a mile and a quarter. With the ground drying out so quickly, we felt that we had to tackle the longer trip and with only five runners, it made it an easy decision. In the race he settled nicely off a steady early pace before being asked for his effort approaching the two furlong marker. While he looked to hold every chance coming out of the dip, the superior stamina and perhaps class of Godolphin's Pinzolo enabled his rival to pull two lengths clear. Although he handled the ground and stayed ten furlongs to pretty good effect, we feel as though a mile on easy ground will be his optimum conditions this year. Where such opportunities arise will be down to the British Weather but he certainly looks capable of winning in Pattern company and it is great to have a horse like him in the yard.