Upgrading heading in right direction
Upgrading enjoyed a trouble-free run, thundering home to win the Class Three Haven Handicap over the 1,650m at Happy Valley on Wednesday with some authority for trainer Andreas Schutz and appears to have room to head higher in the ratings.
Arriving in the Peter Ho Leung stable last season off a mark of 86 from Britain, Upgrading took more than a few runs to acclimatise, but turned the corner at his eighth outing when stepping up to the mile for the first time in his Happy Valley debut in mid-March.
He was given a patient ride by Gerald Mosse before turning on the jets to get within a half-length third of Absolute Hedge at 40-1 odds.
He ended his season on April 18 on a sour note when a badly held-up ninth as the race favourite under Douglas Whyte and soon changed stables to Schutz (pictured).
Expertly prepared for his return on September 8 over the Valley mile, lightning struck once again as he was badly baulked for a run behind Fun Rider as the second favourite for Whyte.
With Whyte jumping ship for the short-priced favourite Fun Rider this time, Schutz called upon Olivier Doleuze and removed the blinkers. He was given a quiet time behind midfield, angled six wide at the head of the straight before accelerating through a gaping hole to hit the front 150m out and maintain a comfortable advantage of three-quarters to the line on Mark Up, with Fun Rider a distant third.
Upgrading had shown promise in two runs as a juvenile under the tutelage of trainer Brian Meehan for a win in a 17-runner race over the 1,400m at Newbury, before chalking up a distant second behind Ashram in the Somerville Tattersalls Stakes (G3) over 1,400m.
A five-year-old son of Daggers Drawn and a Blues Traveller mare, it's no wonder Upgrading has shown an affinity for the springier Valley course, and the 1,800m should be right up his alley as well.
And if connections feel adventurous, a return to the all-weather track for Upgrading would not be a bad idea.
He is bred to handle the surface and produced one of his better runs for seventh last December behind Perfect Style off an 84-rating when he was nowhere near his peak form.
Rocket And Gold was held up behind runners and quickened well when clear to come up a luckless second behind Amazing Fortune in a Class Five race over the mile. He should benefit from this run and will go one better next time out over the 1,800m.
The lightly raced Oyster made a nice bid down the outside to be a promising seventh behind talented Turbo King in race two and is crying out for a longer trip than the 1,000m, while Happy Cha Cha (race four) was never on the track from a wide gate and faded over the final 100m after going forward to test the speed at the 600m. He was a nice winner first-up in Class Five and should eventually prove his worth in Class Four off a softer run.
Jolly Good caught the eye with a thundering third to Victory Mascot in race five and may finally have turned the corner. As a Derby starter last season, he has ability and may have found a home at Happy Valley over a trip of 1,800m and further.
