held up towards rear, ridden 5f out, weakened 4f out, soon well behind
held up and behind, pushed along over 3f out, trying to close when rider dropped rein briefly over 2f out, hampered 1f out, went 2nd inside final furlong, stayed on, no impression on winner
tracked leaders, pushed along 2f out, went 2nd over 1f out, soon edged right, 3rd and stayed on same pace inside final furlong
made all, ridden over 1f out, clear inside final furlong, stayed on well
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, one pace and beaten over 1f out
slowly into stride, towards rear, pushed along 11f out, reminder over 7f out, soon went wrong and pulled up
tracked winner, ridden over 2f out, lost 2nd over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
Angel Gabrial hasn’t won since 2014 despite tumbling down the weights but Grumeti scored over 2m at Wolverhampton back in March and drops back down in class today. La Fritillaire won at Ripon in May and remains 5lb higher while Corpus Chorister went close at Chester last time and maiden winner The Blues Master may improve for the longer trip representing Mark Johnston. But WATERCLOCK has been mostly hurdling since winning this in 2015 and Micky Hammond’s charge gets the nod off a much lower mark today after winning over timber on his latest start.
Highland Castle 18-1 (11-2) Led, edged right before 3rd, not fluent 6th, mistakes 7th and 8th, headed before hitting 2 out, soon weakened, tailed off, last of 8, dist behind Its Pandorama (11-2) at Cartmel 2m 6f mdn (5) gs in Jun.
Angel Gabrial (IRE) 9-2 (9-12) Tracked leader, keen after 4f, ridden 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong, 5th of 6, 4 1/2l behind Zenafire (8-10) at Chester 2m hcp (4) gs in Jul.
Grumeti 10-1 (9-2) Bumped start, mid-division, ridden over 3f out, headway over 1f out, 4th and stayed on same pace inside final furlong, 4th of 8, 5 1/4l behind Clowance One (8-13) at Kempton 2m hcp (3) pol in Jul.
Corpus Chorister (FR) 4-1 (9-7) Led, steadied pace after 4f, increased pace 3f out, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, stayed on, 2nd of 6, 1/2l behind Zenafire (8-10) at Chester 2m hcp (4) gs in Jul.
La Fritillaire 16-1 (8-5) Raced wide in touch, headway over 2f out, ridden to chase winner over 1f out, kept on one pace, 2nd of 11, 2 1/4l behind Akavit (8-11) at Pontefract 2m 2f hcp (4) gf in Jun.
Waterclock (IRE) 13-2 (11-4) In touch, outpaced when mistake 2 out, ridden between last 2, rallied last, ran on to lead near finish, won at Hexham 2m 7f hcp (4) gd in May beating Landecker (11-12) by 1/2l, 7 ran.
The Blues Master (IRE) 9-1 (9-0) Slowly into stride, recovered to soon lead, ridden and headed over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 7th of 8, 13 1/4l behind Montanna (9-0) at Newcastle 1m 4f stks (5) pol in Jun.
