raced keen in touch, saddle slip 2nd, pulled up after 3rd
tracked leader, ridden and effort approaching 2 out, chance last, kept on under pressure
led, headed approaching 3 out, rallied and effort 2 out, no extra approaching last
pulled hard in rear, headway halfway, ridden to chase leader approaching 2 out, weakened, flat
held up in rear, headway when not much room on bend after 3 out, headway and effort 2 out, every chance last, no extra, flat
towards rear, pushed along after 3 out, no further progress
tracked leaders, led approaching 3 out, ridden approaching 2 out, headed last, one pace under pressure
towards rear, pushed along 3 out, ridden and headway 2 out, stayed on to lead last, kept on
This interesting handicap can go to Liberty Seeker, with possibly Welsh Main proving best of the rest. The selection's hat-trick bid was foiled at Ascot last time, but that was in a very good novice event. He had looked progressive in notching up two wins before that and it could well be that the handicapper has understated his talent in allotting a mark of 117. Welsh Main is a course and distance winner and is now just four-pounds higher in the weights than for his Wetherby win of October 2002. He's clearly had problems but, if a recent run over two-and-a-half miles has cleared his tubes, could go well. A number of the others are racing from revised marks for victories so need career-best efforts to score here, while Bernadon, who showed useful form at best for Martin Pipe, now has his first run for Richard Guest and it will be interesting to see how he fares. Sono has cheekpieces fitted for the first time, so they might bring about some improvement but, in a race that is not entirely straightforward, we'll side with Liberty Seeker, who also holds an entry for the Tote Gold Trophy.
