Geordie will leave it late: Osborne

Jamie Osborne believes Jamie Spencer is the perfect partner for Geordieland in the Ascot Gold Cup next week.

The six-year-old looked slightly reluctant when he hit the front a furlong out in the Yorkshire Cup last time and had no answer to the irresistible surge of Sergeant Cecil.

But Osborne is hoping Spencer can produce his charge as late as possible.

“It’s feast or famine with him in a way,” said Osborne.

“He has run some great races in defeat – second in the Goodwood Cup, fourth in the Ebor, second in the Yorkshire Cup, but in between there have been some ordinary runs.

“He’s six, he’s not entirely straightforward to train but he has been totally straightforward for the last month.

“I have had such a clear run with him and I’ve been able to do as much work as I’ve wanted to do with him. I think he is in the form of his life.

“I think we learned more about him at York last time than we had in his previous three races. He needs to be the last to challenge,” he told At The Races.

“It is going to be a brave man’s way to ride him but we’ve got a brave man on board. Jamie Spencer likes to ride horses that way.

“We will be out the back early on, maybe even last and if Yeats and Sergeant Cecil aren’t too far in front of us, maybe then pick them off.

“On all known form he is probably third best in the race so you only need the leading pair to run slightly below form and we run slightly above and there is the case for him.”