Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 21 July 2025

I tend not to speak to trainers these days unless I happen to see them at the races. I occasionally email them but I fundamentally believe it is not my business to ask them about their horses. That was certainly the case when I started 50 years ago, but these days most trainers and their owners have a more open approach with the media.

There are, though, occasions when I would like to have them shed some light on something and there are two prime examples of that at the moment.

Both relate to the thinking behind the placing of a horse in their care. The first is Raja Raja and the second is Tiernan, about whom I have written in my publications.

Raja Raja, trained by David Simcock and unraced at two, had a conventional start to his career having three runs, twice in maidens and once in a novice, and qualifying for a handicap mark of 77.  He was then beaten twice and dropped to 73, off which he won at Southwell in December.

Raised to 82 he then took a mighty rise in grade and ran in the Group 3 Aston Park Stakes, meeting rivals rated up to 115, and was lucky to have his mark unchanged following a decent effort. He was not so fortunate last time though, incurring a 10lbs rise up to 92 for finishing third in a Listed race at Beverley.

Raja Raja was entered for other Pattern races for which he wasn’t declared and I would love to know why David Simcock, who is no fool, forfeited the chance to run the horse from his mark of 82 in handicaps.

We had a similar scenario with Tiernan last week.

Iain Jardine is renowned as one of Scotland’s shrewder operators yet he gave Tiernan, a horse about whom I wrote extensively following two eye-catching runs, his third run for a handicap mark in the Listed Glasgow Stakes at Hamilton.

Perhaps he thought the 150/1 chance would be tailed off against horses rated on marks from 95 to 108, but he finished so strongly that he was beaten just a closing three-quarters of a length in third and might have won in a few more strides.

Tiernan is a lovely prospect – a Godolphin cast-off with a staying pedigree – and he can win his maiden. I am writing this before sight of his opening mark, but taking collateral links from his previous two starts he ran there to something in the low 80s. His mark on Tuesday could be up to 20lbs higher but the consolation is that he has black type, though as a gelding that is of little value.

Bye for now

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