Graham Richards begins a series highlighting the top two-year-olds of 2007

Henrythenavigator | Kingsgate Native | Myboycharlie | New Approach | Proviso | Raven's Pass | Rio De La Plata | Winker Watson | Zarkava |

KINGSGATE NATIVE (IRE) (20 Feb 2005) b c

Mujadil (USA) - Native Force (IRE) (Indian Ridge)
Trainer: J R Best
FSF Rating: 153
Form: 221

Four-generation pedigree

Kingsgate Native made his debut at Royal Ascot in the Windsor Castle Stakes Listed race. Sent off at 66/1, he belied those odds with a superb debut run. Coming with a storming late surge, he just failed to catch Drawnfromthepast by a head.

Sent to Goodwood for the Group Three Molecomb Stakes, he came from off the pace again, narrowly failing to haul back Fleeting Spirit. Connections then decided to dispatch him north for the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes at York, one of the top five-furlong sprint races in Europe. He was noted travelling well just behind third placed Dandy Man in the first half of the race. Switched for a run, he came through to collar the pacemaking Desert Lord and won going away.

In an effort to rationalise the form, my ratings indicate Desert Lord ran 9lb below his 2006 Abbaye form, Dandy Man has since been beaten in a Group Three, while fourth placed Red Clubs is better over six-furlongs.

Kingsgate Native's sire was at his best over five-furlongs, while his dam won over a mile and handled soft ground. He is a fine big colt that looks likely to make up into an out an out sprinter. Three-year-old careers are never easy for this type of horse; it remains to be seen how much further he can progress in the short-term.

Nunthorpe Stakes video

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