held up mid-division, headway over 1f out, led inside final furlong, kept on and headed near finish
in rear, headway over 1f out, son ridden, kept on to lead near finish
towards rear, headway over 1f out, ridden inside final furlong, no extra
mid-division, pushed along over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, faded inside final furlong
held up towards rear, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, no impression
tracked leaders, ridden inside final furlong, kept on same pace
tracked leaders in 3rd, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on
A winner over 5f at Brighton, Gentlemen steps up in trip along with Balliol, third at Doncaster on his handicap debut back in July. JUSTICE FIRST (NAP) makes more appeal on his recent close-up second over today's distance at Lingfield and Ed Dunlop's charge can go one better in this. Nouveau Foret was also narrowly beaten on his latest start here but that was over a mile and Venus Grace was placed over the same distance at the track on her latest outing. Luna Mission showed a bit more at Redcar on his first start since June and is worth a second glance.
Gentlemen 9-2 (9-2) Held up in last pair, headway on outside and pushed along halfway, ridden chasing leaders over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 6th of 8, 2 1/4l behind Red Stripes (9-8) at Chelmsford City 5f hcp (4) pol in Aug.
Balliol 6-1 (9-4) Took keen hold, pressed leader, led 3f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, stayed on same pace inside final furlong, 3rd of 8, 1 1/2l behind Bashiba (9-9) at Doncaster 5f hcp (5) gd in Jul.
Justice First 33-1 (9-5) Mid-division, headway and not clear run over 2f out, ridden and ran on to go 2nd towards finish, 2nd of 13, 3/4l behind Exceeding Power (9-6) at Lingfield 7f hcp (5) pol in Dec.
Luna Mission (IRE) 20-1 (9-4) Behind, ridden and headway over 1f out, kept on towards finish, 5th of 16, 3 1/2l behind Lavetta (9-1) at Redcar 7f hcp (5) sft in Nov.
Star Of The Stage 16-1 (9-7) In touch, ridden 2f out, weakened final furlong, 8th of 14, 5l behind Exit Europe (9-0) at Kempton 7f hcp (5) pol in Nov.
Flying Fantasy 6-1 (9-0) Tracked leader, pushed along and weakened inside final furlong, 11th of 13, 10l behind Elusive Guest (9-6) at Kempton 1m hcp (5) pol in Nov.
Humour (IRE) 6-1 (9-3) Tracked leaders, ridden over 1f out, no extra towards finish, 5th of 11, 2 3/4l behind The Big Lad (9-4) at Kempton 6f hcp (5) pol in Nov.
Nouveau Foret 8-1 (8-8) Dwelt in touch, not clear run over 2f out, headway when switched right approaching final furlong, driven to press winner inside final furlong, ran on, just held, 2nd of 7, hd behind Tommy's Secret (9-4) at Chelmsford City 1m hcp (5) pol in Nov.
Venus Grace 33-1 (8-7) Tracked leader, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed towards finish, 3rd of 10, 1 1/4l behind Supersta (9-4) at Chelmsford City 1m hcp (5) pol in Dec.