steadied start, held up in last pair, headway and switched right over 1f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, soon clear, stayed on strongly
led, pushed along over 2f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong, eased
tracked leading trio, went 3rd over 2f out, ridden and kept on same pace final furlong
tracked leading pair on inside until dropped to 4th over 2f out, weakened quickly
never travelled in rear, pushed along and struggling halfway, ridden and no response over 3f out, laboured headway in 4th final furlong
tracked leader, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed and unable to quicken inside final furlong, no chance with winner
Aircraft Carrier has completed a hat-trick and has no problems with the trip as we saw at Wolverhampton last time though he’s now 10lb higher and this is much tougher. AMADE, five times a winner in France, all but one on the all-weather, made a highly impressive UK debut at Kempton when landing a similar-class event in impressive style. There’s probably some improvement left and he can go in again. Elegiac has never been this far but won a Class 2 handicap at York in October over 1m6f and is likely to have a good season in staying events. Grey Britain only had three to beat when scoring over this trip at Lingfield and didn’t run quite so well at Kempton next time while Higher Power hasn’t won since the 2017 Northumberland Plate.
Amade (IRE) 2-1fav (9-0) Slowly into stride, held up towards rear, headway on outside 6f out, soon steadied, closed over 4f out, led over 2f out, soon quickened clear, in no danger after, won at Kempton 2m hcp (2) pol in Jan beating Castlelyons (8-12) by 2 1/4l, 11 ran.
Grey Britain Evensfav (9-7) Held up in rear, headway over 2f out, soon chased leaders, ridden and kept on inside final furlong, no impression with front pair inside final 100 yards, 3rd of 5, 1 3/4l behind Stamford Raffles (9-7) at Kempton 2m stks (2) pol in Feb.
Higher Power 7-2 (9-7) Tracked leader 7f, remained close up in 3rd, driven over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, one pace inside final furlong, 4th of 5, 2 1/4l behind Stamford Raffles (9-7) at Kempton 2m stks (2) pol in Feb.
To Be Wild (IRE) (9-1) 9th of 17, dist behind Falcao Negro (9-1) at Toulouse 1m 4f lst stks sft in Dec.
Aircraft Carrier (IRE) 7-4jfav (9-0) Held up in 5th place, smooth headway into 3rd over 2f out, 2nd on inside approaching final furlong, ridden to lead inside final furlong, stayed on, won at Wolverhampton 2m 1f stks (2) pol in Jan beating Festival Of Ages (9-5) by 3/4l, 6 ran.
Elegiac 7-2 (9-7) Always handy, led over 1f out, stayed on, headed towards finish, 2nd of 10, nk behind Lucky Deal (8-7) at Chelmsford City 1m 6f hcp (2) pol in Nov.
