We did another strong piece of work with Conservative last Saturday, and we are very happy with the way he is coming on.

Kat, his usual work rider, was on board as he had a spin over 7f. She went a strong pace with him from the 6f pole just to see what he was capable of inside the final furlong, and what was pleasing about that performance was the way he battled around the other horses in the home straight. There was no letting up either in the closing stages, which suggests his fitness is where we want it to be.

He did hang slightly around the bend, but once he was in the home straight, he was fine. I think that’s just a bad habit he has gotten into. We can work on that by giving him more experience going around a bend.

His next notable piece of work will be alongside Harbour Vision, one of the most experienced horses from our Wolverhampton yard. He is a 1m AW specialist, and it will be interesting to see how he fares alongside him.

We are going to aim for the start of February for Conservative’s first run. I know it’s been a frustrating wait to see him in action, but hopefully, he can do us proud when he does feature, and our patience will have then paid off.

Scott Dixon, Coral Racing Club Trainer