Sir Sholokhov looked to have a great chance of making it 2 from 2 over fences at Newton Abbot on Tuesday, going off odds-on in a three-runner affair. Stepping back up in trip after scoring over 2 miles at Sedgefield on his chasing debut, he was content to track his two rivals, and despite jumping out to his right on occasions, came through to lead just after the third last. The second favourite Go Long kept him honest, but Sir Sholokhov always appeared to have a bit in reserve and went to score driven out by 2¾ lengths. Stiffer tests may be ahead but there is definitely further improvement to come, especially as his jumping gets slicker with experience. |