Top Offer certainly falls into the 'could be anything' category and it was hard not to be very impressed by his debut win at Newbury. The form doesn't amount to a great deal, but the manner of victory marked him out as a smart performer. Unfortunately he reportedly got loose returning to the yard a few weeks later and injured himself, which prevented him from running again, otherwise I'm sure we would have seen him in Group company. He has a fluent action and will always be best on top of the ground. He will get a mile and further.
Roger Charlton rated him last season as his best two-year-old since Trade Fair (third in the Dewhurst in 2002) and Three Valleys (runaway winner of the Coventry Stakes, finished first in the Middle Park, later disqualified, and close second in the Dewhurst in 2003). In other words, he rates him very highly. Roger's fellow trainer and near neighbour Richard Hannon was reportedly impressed as well. Roger gave a positive update in mid-January:
"ROGER CHARLTON gave a positive update yesterday on unbeaten colt Top Offer, a best price 16-1 for the Qipco 2,000 Guineas who was forced to miss the Dewhurst due to injury, writes Rodney Masters. Khalid Abdullah's colt excited many with his commanding debut at Newbury last August, including champion trainer Richard Hannon, who said he was "very impressed with Top Offer" and therefore not keen to take him on had he made the Dewhurst. However Top Offer was sidelined with a cut leg after getting loose and colliding with a gate at Beckhampton. But, along with the others in Charlton's team, he is now doing two canters a day in preparation for a step up to faster work next month.
Charlton, who has either the Greenham or Craven Stakes earmarked as a starting point, said: "We were worried by Top Offer's injury at the time but it was nothing serious, more cosmetic. He was soon over that and has been in regular exercise since November. He's in good order and I'm very happy." The trainer added: "We thought Top Offer was a nice horse before he ran and won at Newbury. We've always held him in the highest regard."
Hannon's pair Bronterre and Trumpet Major weren't beaten far in the Dewhurst and it's fascinating to speculate how Top Offer would have fared if he had lined up alongside them. I suspect that he's at least Group 2 class and if forward enough for his seasonal debut will take some stopping in one of the trials. I wouldn't read too much into the price movement on Betfair - the horse won't have done any serious work yet and the amounts wagered are far too small to be significant.
You might also want to read Andrew Fletcher's write-up on the horse: http://horseracingtavern.com/2012/02/horse-racing-2000-guineas-ante-post-betting-tips/
Top Offer certainly falls into the 'could be anything' category and it was hard not to be very impressed by his debut win at Newbury. The form doesn't amount to a great deal, but the manner of victory marked him out as a smart performer. Unfortunat
Thanks for that. I hadn't seen the update you had posted, so that was new news to me. Sounds fairly positive.
Obviously he didn't beat a great deal on his debut, but it's always good to see a horse win the way he did first time out.
The 2000 entries are out next week, so I'll be interested to see if he's the only Abdullah entry (unlikely). At the moment I'd say he's the best the man has this coming year in the 3yo mile dept.
Eric, a few years ago I wouldn't have touched any of Charlton's horses. His record though seems to have picked up again over the past couple of years. I'm unaware of any changes at his stable or improved quality of horses but he does now seem to getting more winners as a % of runners.
I hope Top Offer turns out to be one of those
James,Thanks for that. I hadn't seen the update you had posted, so that was new news to me. Sounds fairly positive.Obviously he didn't beat a great deal on his debut, but it's always good to see a horse win the way he did first time out. The 2000 ent