3.10 Ayr
Quality Art 25/1 NAP
Extremely interesting contender who I think looks massively overpriced at 25/1. Formerly with Gary Moore, this 4 year old has now moved the in form Richard Guest team for 15,000gns recently and I think he has a major chance if recapturing his old form. After 3 solid efforts in his juvenile campaign, Quality Art really flourished as a 3 year old and looked extremely progressive until he went off the boil in has 3 starts. In his first 5 starts as a 3 year old, he posted 3 wins and a narrowly beaten 2nd and his
handicap mark rose quickly from an initial 72 to a mark of 90 and its not hard to see why. After winning a maiden, he ran a very good 2nd on his handicap debut when finishing a 0.75L beaten 2nd. The winner looks a progressive horse as 7lb higher mark subsequently and Quality Art lost nothing in defeat. After this Quality Art notched up two wins, the first a very impressive 4L success at Kempton in a race that has worked out really well. The 2nd Swiss Dream, who was rated 80 that day, has since won off a mark of 99 and the 3rd has won off an 8lb higher mark as well.
Quality Art was risen 10lb to a mark of 85 but showed no signs of stopping as he ran out an impressive 1L winner at Windsor. Under the guidance of Ryan Moore, he made all and Quality Art seemed to have a bit left in the tank as he went on to score. The 2nd Stlye and Panache won off the same mark two starts later and again nothing seems wrong with that form. Upped to a Class 3 off a mark of 90, Quality Art again ran a very solid race when finishing a 2L beaten 4th at Newmarkets July course. On the good to soft ground that probably wasn't ideal (two best efforts were on better ground), he set a very fast early pace and he faded late on. The form of that race is fine with the winner winning off 2lb subsequently, the 2nd Ballista has won off a 1lb lower mark and the 3rd Coeus won on his next start off the same mark. His final 3 starts as a 3 year old were poor (he was eased when beaten 3 times) and he may have just gone off the boil a little bit.
Quality Art makes his debut for Richard Guest off a mark of 86 and he'll have to overcome an 8 month break if he wants to get back to winning ways here. The break is an unknown, with the longest absence being 105 days before today but he ran a very good 2nd that day so I certainly think he's able to go well fresh enough. I think he looks potentially well handicapped off just 1lb above his last winning mark and if you discount his last 3 efforts he'd definitely be a single figure price. Its very interesting that Richard Guest won this race last year, and more so for the same owners so I certainly think that connections may have had this race in mind for some time. There has been a bit of money around for him too which is certainly encouraging. The good to firm conditions should prove ideal for him and although the draw in stall 1 may be a slight disadvantage, he should be able to use his blistering early speed to tack across if desired. J-P Guillambert takes the ride and this is his only engagement of the day and as he was on board the stables winner in this last year I'm definitely encouraged by his booking. With other three entries in the next 5 days, I hope connections plan to get a couple of quick victories under his belt and he also has an entry in the Wokinhgam at Royal Ascot next month too. If the change of scenery has worked the oracle, I think Quality Art could be extremely difficult to beat. I'm doing a RFC with The Nifty Fox who has finished 2nd in this race the last two years including off a 13lb higher mark last year and he clearly goes well at the track this time of year.





