George Scott retains plenty of faith in Watch My Tracer despite his star juvenile disappointing at Newmarket on Saturday.
Owned by Victorious Racing and Fawzi Nass, the son of Dandy Man was a taking winner at Yarmouth on debut and was then immediately upped in class for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.
He was not disgraced in that high-quality contest and having got back to winning ways when taking a Windsor novice event in style, he headed to the July course for the £100,000 Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes as one of the leading players in the valuable heat.
However, heavy rainfall prior to the off turned underfoot conditions against the 3-1 joint-favourite as he struggled to land a telling blow and came home in ninth.
Scott said: “It was one of those bad days at the office, but Watch My Tracer is a fast ground horse. We’ve saved him for fast ground and it is very rare you see rain like that in England.
“It was the most significant rain I’ve seen in England for a long time in a 20-minute period and it just changed the ground from lovely, fast ground to very specialist ground.
“I don’t like making excuses but I think that was a legitimate excuse for him certainly.”
Watch My Tracer was previously due to run in the Molecomb Stakes at the Qatar Goodwood Festival before skipping the Group Two contest on account of the ground and Scott admits he would have done the same if the rain at Newmarket had started earlier on Saturday afternoon.
And with an official rating of 109, the Newmarket-based handler is refusing to give up hope on the gelding making his mark at a high level this season, with Newbury’s Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes a possible option for his next outing.
“I’ve still got plenty of confidence in Watch My Tracer and with his rating there aren’t so many options, so depending on the ground, we might still think about the Mill Reef for him,” continued Scott.
“I appreciate that sounds a bit lofty after his run on Saturday, but if the rain had come half an hour earlier he wouldn’t have run. It started as I legged the jockey up in the paddock and then it just rained cats and dogs all the way through the race.
“I did it at Goodwood and I would have done it again. It was just a bad day at the office, but we’ve been lucky plenty so far this year so you have just got to take the rough with the smooth.”
Scott will also be hoping to see Piz Nair bounce back in his next start having also faltered on Saturday’s Newmarket card.
The Bated Breath colt was sent off the 11-4 favourite for the JenningsBet British EBF Novice Stakes on the back a win at Windsor in July, but inexperience took its toll as the Niarchos family-owned colt weakened in what appeared a deep contest.
The youngster holds an entry in Doncaster’s Betfred Champagne Stakes, but it is likely Piz Nair will bid to get back on track in handicap company.
Scott added: “Piz Nair was disappointing and just didn’t fire. He was caught on the wing and with his inexperience – mentally he’s still learning – he just wanted to drift away from the action.
“There’s no way he would have beaten the winner, he looks very smart. But he just didn’t give his running and we’ll just have to regroup now and I’m confident he will be a nice horse moving forward.
“He will probably have his sights lowered now and because he will get a handicap mark, we will probably go down the nursery route with him.”
