Mutasaabeq the stand-out in an intriguing week of trials

Race-reading is a very individual pursuit. What one set of eyes sees can be totally different to somebody else’s. If we all thought the same racing would be no fun, but I was taken aback by the perceived wisdom after the Classic trials at Newmarket and Newbury this week.

The first thing to say is that I don’t think we saw the winner of either of the two Newmarket Classics running in a recognised trial this week, but if we did it was probably Alcohol Free.

Everyone seemed to rule her out after her Newbury success because she only scrambled home from two outsiders, but I thought she did a lot of hard running in the hottest part of the race from a tricky draw and still managed to win.