held up, headway 2f out, ridden over 1f out, ran on well to lead inside final furlong
led, ridden 2f out, headed over 1f out, no extra
chased leaders, ridden 3f out, no impression
chased leader, ridden and headway 2f out, led over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on
All of these step up in trip including the penalised Think First, who won over a mile here last month. Sir Laurence Graff disappointed at Sandown having earlier gone close at Goodwood but COUNTER posted a much better effort when third at the latter track. Ralph Beckett’s colt is out of a middle-distance winner and should appreciate this extra distance. Eligius has yet to figure and debuts on the all-weather.
Think First (IRE) 15-2 (9-7) Prominent, switched right just over 1f out, led inside final furlong, ran on well, won at Chelmsford City 1m stks (4) pol in Aug beating Nanga Parbat (9-7) by 1 1/4l, 6 ran.
Counter 15-2 (9-7) Close 3rd on inside, wet 2nd 6f out, stayed on inside in home straight, led inside final 2f, soon ridden, headed over 1f out, stayed on same pace, lost 2nd towards finish, 3rd of 7, 2l behind High Honour (9-7) at Goodwood 1m mdn stks (2) sft in Sep.
Eligius 40-1 (9-0) Chased leader, ridden and dropped to rear over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, last of 4, 10 1/4l behind Stormbuster (9-0) at Newbury 1m stks (2) gd in Sep.
Sir Laurence Graff (IRE) 9-4 (9-4) Led, pushed along over 2f out, ridden and faced challenge well over 1f out, headed inside last, kept on one pace, 3rd of 7, 5l behind Local Dynasty (9-10) at Sandown 1m stks (4) sft in Sep.