raced wide chased winner over 3f out, ridden and every chance over 1f out, one pace final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden 2f out, weakened final furlong
keen tracked leaders, effort over 1f out, driven to lead narrowly when flashed tail inside final furlong, headed and lost 2nd near finish
close up in rear, ridden and headway approaching final furlong, every chance inside final furlong, not quicken close home
led, ridden 2f out, headed narrowly inside final furlong, rallied to lead again near finish, gamely
Beau Mistral beat Assertive Agent at Brighton last year and is penalised for a more recent victory at Wolverhampton. Tell A Story drops back to 6f for the first time as she makes her handicap debut but BE ROYALE gets another chance. She never recovered from a slow start at Kempton last time but had been narrowly beaten at the same track before that and should have the measure of these if running up to the same level here. Last Star Falling and Penny Dreadful are both course and distance winners with the latter back on a winning mark but out of form.
Be Royale 9-4 (9-7) Held up in touch, pushed along and unable to quicken over 2f out, struggling when hampered over 1f out, no danger after, 8th of 10, 3 1/2l behind Hackney Road (9-7) at Kempton 6f hcp fll (5) pol in Dec.
Penny Dreadful 40-1 (8-10) Dwelt, in touch, weakened over 1f out, 9th of 13, 11 1/4l behind Captain Lars (9-5) at Southwell 5f hcp (4) pol in Dec.
Last Star Falling (IRE) 33-1 (9-6) Chased leading pair, pushed along over 2f out, ridden inside final 2f, unable to quicken over 1f out, kept on towards finish, 5th of 10, 2 1/2l behind Born To Finish (9-13) at Kempton 6f hcp (6) pol in Jan.
Tell A Story 7-1 (9-0) Soon led, pushed along over 2f out, ridden and headed entering final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 6, 5 1/2l behind Rebel State (9-5) at Lingfield 1m mdn stks (5) pol in Jan.
Assertive Agent 7-1 (9-6) Mid-division, headway over 2f out, challenged over 1f out, led inside final furlong, just held on, won at Kempton 6f hcp (6) pol in Sep beating Arcanista (9-3) by ns, 11 ran.
Beau Mistral (IRE) 16-1 (8-6) Made all, driven over 1f out, ran on, won at Wolverhampton 6f hcp fll (5) pol in Jan beating Doeadeer (8-10) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.