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A step up in trip on the horizon for both Katalyst and Rockstar Icon following their latest efforts | Raceday Highlights
05 Nov 2025
Katalyst and Rockstar Icon were the first two of four Coral Racing Club runners to go to post this week as they headed to Wolverhampton and Lingfield on Monday and Tuesday respectively.
Katalyst, our two-year-old filly who is trained by William Muir and Chris Grassick, kicked off proceedings on Monday evening featuring in just the fourth race of her career at Wolverhampton, a month after being given an opening handicap mark of 68. Chris opted to leave her in restricted maiden company for this run, hoping that her knowledge and experience from previous races could give her an advantage in a field that was full of newcomers and slightly less experienced horses.
That being said, Katalyst was set to face some very well bred rivals, including a filly from the powerful Qatar stable, Art Gallery, and a near €50,000 purchase out of Champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot who eventually went on to win the race.
Our filly broke well and took up an early lead from stall one, which was to be expected given the enthusiasm that she had shown in her last two runs, on top of the importance of getting a position on the inside rail at Wolverhampton's first bend, that comes very quickly after the start of the seven furlong trip. She kept her position with the leading group for the majority of the race, before just fading in the last furlong and a half. Jockey Kaiya Fraser reacted to the fact she'd given her all at that point and allowed her to get home in her own time. Katalyst hit the line in sixth place, with a gap back to the remaining runners in the field.
WATCH: Kaiya Fraser gives his perspective of how the race played out from the saddle
We caught up with Chris Grassick after the race and he told us this:
"Having spoken to Kaiya after the race, it does look like they've just gone pretty fast from the get-go and it meant that Katalyst was just a little out of her comfort zone travelling around. She did break well which was encouraging, but because they were going so fast, and Katalyst was on her nose a bit the whole way round as a result, she just emptied out at the end and didn't have an awful lot more to give going down the back end of the straight.
She ate up well this morning and trotted up fine too. We're thinking about stepping her up to a mile next time out, so that she's not asked to keep up such a fast gallop in the early stages of the race. She can settle into the race nicely and take it a little easier than she's made to over seven furlongs, which should help her to finish strongly. It'll likely be a nursery handicap, so we know that she'll be in a race surrounded by horses of a similar ability as opposed to playing the lottery in a Restricted Maiden like last time."
Next up was Rockstar Icon, who returned to the track and trip of his only career victory, the seven furlong trip at Lingfield, on Tuesday afternoon. He was given a tough task from the off, after being drawn very wide in stall 13, meaning a lot of early pace had to be used up to get a prominent position on the inside of the field.
Rockstar Icon's Owners for the Day, trainer Oliver Cole and jockey Sean Levey in the parade ring
Through the first half of the race he seemed to be travelling well, but when the pace began to lift in the last two furlongs, Rockstar Icon began to lose ground on the leaders and was eventually boxed in leaving jockey, Sean Levey, with few other choices than to ease him down and stop him from being bumped from both sides.
Frustratingly this has often been the case with our four-year-old so far this season, and Sean was quick to point out in his post-race interview that he thinks stepping Rockstar Icon up in distance to at least 1m2f could be the key to unlocking some improvement.
WATCH: Jockey Sean Levey breaks down how Tuesday's 16:10 at Lingfield unfolded
After the race, trainer Oliver Cole agreed that the best port of call would be to step Rockstar Icon up in trip markedly for his next run, and so it's possible that he could be lining up a return to Lingfield at the beginning of December for a race over 1m2f.
Hopefully it won't be too long before we see either Katalyst or Rockstar Icon back on the racecourse and hopefully picking up more prize money for Coral Racing Club members!
Katalyst, our two-year-old filly who is trained by William Muir and Chris Grassick, kicked off proceedings on Monday evening featuring in just the fourth race of her career at Wolverhampton, a month after being given an opening handicap mark of 68. Chris opted to leave her in restricted maiden company for this run, hoping that her knowledge and experience from previous races could give her an advantage in a field that was full of newcomers and slightly less experienced horses.
That being said, Katalyst was set to face some very well bred rivals, including a filly from the powerful Qatar stable, Art Gallery, and a near €50,000 purchase out of Champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot who eventually went on to win the race.
Our filly broke well and took up an early lead from stall one, which was to be expected given the enthusiasm that she had shown in her last two runs, on top of the importance of getting a position on the inside rail at Wolverhampton's first bend, that comes very quickly after the start of the seven furlong trip. She kept her position with the leading group for the majority of the race, before just fading in the last furlong and a half. Jockey Kaiya Fraser reacted to the fact she'd given her all at that point and allowed her to get home in her own time. Katalyst hit the line in sixth place, with a gap back to the remaining runners in the field.
WATCH: Kaiya Fraser gives his perspective of how the race played out from the saddle
We caught up with Chris Grassick after the race and he told us this:
"Having spoken to Kaiya after the race, it does look like they've just gone pretty fast from the get-go and it meant that Katalyst was just a little out of her comfort zone travelling around. She did break well which was encouraging, but because they were going so fast, and Katalyst was on her nose a bit the whole way round as a result, she just emptied out at the end and didn't have an awful lot more to give going down the back end of the straight.
She ate up well this morning and trotted up fine too. We're thinking about stepping her up to a mile next time out, so that she's not asked to keep up such a fast gallop in the early stages of the race. She can settle into the race nicely and take it a little easier than she's made to over seven furlongs, which should help her to finish strongly. It'll likely be a nursery handicap, so we know that she'll be in a race surrounded by horses of a similar ability as opposed to playing the lottery in a Restricted Maiden like last time."
Next up was Rockstar Icon, who returned to the track and trip of his only career victory, the seven furlong trip at Lingfield, on Tuesday afternoon. He was given a tough task from the off, after being drawn very wide in stall 13, meaning a lot of early pace had to be used up to get a prominent position on the inside of the field.
Rockstar Icon's Owners for the Day, trainer Oliver Cole and jockey Sean Levey in the parade ring
Through the first half of the race he seemed to be travelling well, but when the pace began to lift in the last two furlongs, Rockstar Icon began to lose ground on the leaders and was eventually boxed in leaving jockey, Sean Levey, with few other choices than to ease him down and stop him from being bumped from both sides.
Frustratingly this has often been the case with our four-year-old so far this season, and Sean was quick to point out in his post-race interview that he thinks stepping Rockstar Icon up in distance to at least 1m2f could be the key to unlocking some improvement.
WATCH: Jockey Sean Levey breaks down how Tuesday's 16:10 at Lingfield unfolded
After the race, trainer Oliver Cole agreed that the best port of call would be to step Rockstar Icon up in trip markedly for his next run, and so it's possible that he could be lining up a return to Lingfield at the beginning of December for a race over 1m2f.
Hopefully it won't be too long before we see either Katalyst or Rockstar Icon back on the racecourse and hopefully picking up more prize money for Coral Racing Club members!
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