held up in touch, headway to lead 7th, headed approaching last, kept on one pace
led, headed 7th, soon weakened, tailed off and pulled up before 2 out
mid-division, headway halfway, brought up 6th, ridden and weakened 3 out
in touch, headway 5th, every chance approaching 2 out, soon weakened
held up in mid-division, headway 3 out, led approaching last, ran on well
close up, ridden and weakened approaching 3 out
in touch, ridden halfway, soon weakened, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out
towards rear, headway 3 out, effort 2 out, every chance last, kept on same pace
mid-division, weakened after 5th, behind when blundered 7th, tailed off and pulled up before 2 out
mid-division, headway 7th to track leaders, weakened approaching 2 out
track leaders, effort after 3 out, weakened next
towards rear, never dangerous
towards rear, headway halfway, every chance approaching 2 out, weakened last
towards rear, mistake 3 out, soon ridden, kept on one pace from next
pulled hard in rear, headway 4th, weakened quickly next, tailed off and pulled up before 6th
This should not take too much winning and Al Mabrook is taken to add to his tally over the likes of In Good Faith, Tiger Frog and Allegedly Red. Nicky Richards has his team in good shape at present and although Al Mabrook cannot be classed in the same league as Steppes Of Gold and company, he does at least have recent winning form coming into this low-key affair. To be fair, he was found what was on paper, a soft opportunity to gain his first success in over four years, when narrowly beating Polished at Sedgefield three weeks ago. The runner-up gave that form some solidity when scoring over fences at Newcastle on Wednesday, so confidence will be high that Al Mabrook can follow up here. In Good Faith has won a total of 16 races during his long career, the last of them coming at Sedgefield last September. The key to him is the need for good ground at least, so he may struggle in the soft conditions. Having said that, he has posted a couple of decent efforts on this track of late, and so should not be entirely discounted. Tiger Frog is much younger and was fancied over fences here three weeks ago. He failed to jump fluently on what was his second outing in three days but was successful over hurdles here in December and is another to consider for a place at least. Allegedly Red improved for the step up to this trip when dead-heating over the course and distance in November. She has failed to progress since and needs to drop down a few pounds. All in all, Al Mabrook appears to be the safest proposition.
