The Tin Man to Land Windsor Listed Contest for Third Time
Three time Group One winner, The Tin Man, is back in action tonight, although he takes a big drop down in class for his seasonal debut. The seven year old goes to Windsor, to contest their featured Listed race and looks to have a great chance of taking the prize. A win here would be his third in the race, after taking the spoils on seasonal debut in 2016 and 2018. The Group One winner has a 7lb penalty to shoulder, but he clearly goes well when fresh, and the penalty looks as though it may not be enough to stop him.
Although his form was a little patchy last season, when things clicked they did so in a big way. You only have to go back to September to find Group One winning form at the side of his name, winning the Sprint Cup at Haydock. That win and the one he recorded in this race were his only two wins last season from five starts, but he did finish 3rd and 4th in Group One races, showing that he is there or thereabouts with the best sprinters in the country.
On ratings, the closest runner to him is rated 8lb lower, so even with a 7lb penalty he still comes out as the best rated runner in the field. A few of these are having their first run of the campaign, which could be seen as a negative for some horses but that is certainly not the case with The Tin Man. He loves to run first time up, as we have seen in this race over past seasons.
Of those in opposition, Emblazoned is probably the horse with the best form in the race, with placed efforts in Group One and Group Two company last season. However, at a bigger price for the same yard, Glorious Journey is an interesting runner. He has been running over 7f and 1m in his career so far, but has always shown a lot of speed. It is interesting that John Gosden now turns to sprinting with him, he appears to have the pace for it and it could be something that squeezes out a little more improvement from the four year old.
However, having said all of that, these horses are not in the same league as The Tin Man. He has a 7lb penalty to carry, but he looks capable of defying that here, and he can yet again make another seasonal debut a winning one at Windsor on Monday night.
