Camacho Star Makes All
Having earned a first career win earlier in the season, Camacho Star was afforded a break to freshen up. It may have been longer bar the fact that the British summer has been a washout. With ease in the ground, Camacho Star returned to action with another win then taking the 7f Millbry Hill Handicap at Catterick.
Ground is important for the 3yo gelding so the summer months were expected to be a quiet period for Camacho Star. Rain meant that he would have his preferred conditions so he would return after a layoff against 6 rivals. The race revolved around the odds on fav, who was looking for the hat-trick of wins. At odds of 10/1, Camacho Star was actually third in the betting which showed the strength of the market leader.
Things didn’t go to plan on the way to the start with Camacho Star unseating Tom Eaves. Thankfully he didn’t cause a fuss and have any undue stress which showed as he left the stalls. Bouncing out he was quickly into stride and took control of the race. Racing quite keenly, he set some strong fractions in front, chased by the odds on fav. There was no hiding place as they charged downhill and around the left hand bend.
Catterick generally lends itself to a fast pace encounter and this race was no different. Camacho Star led the field into the home straight with a wide margin lead, 3 lengths clear. Tom elected to come off the rail and manoeuvred Camacho Star to the centre of the track over 2f out. This moved was tracked by his rival as Tom kicked for home and squeezed his mount along.
Nothing got into the contest bar the front two and Camacho Star entered the final furlong looking to hold on. The lead was being eaten in to by the fav, but Camacho Star had been constantly applying pressure from halfway. He was responding to all the urgings from Tom and as his rival got close, he found another gear. With just over 1/2f to run he switched leads and find some more. Kicking away once again he stood out to the line, winning the contest by 3/4 length.
It was a good performance from Camacho Star who went hard in front but still managed to quicken off that pace. He came under a strong challenge and proved to be very brave in front, responding to the challenge. Camacho Star has won twice this season and he will certainly be competitive at this level for the remainder of the year. Ground will dictate when and where he goes but the 3yo should provide more fun days out.