tracked leader, closed 4th, led approaching 3 out, soon headed, ridden and beaten after 2 out, left 2nd last, no chance with winner
tracked leaders, not fluent 5th or 3 out, soon ridden, beaten after 2 out, badly hampered last
held up in rear, jumped left 1st, headway on outside approaching 3 out, led approaching last where left clear, ran on well
took keen hold, led, clear after 1st until before 4th, hit next, headed approaching 3 out, weakened before last
held up in rear, pushed along after 4th brielfy, outpaced before 3 out, no chance when jumped right and mistake 2 out, pulled up before last
tracked leaders, went left 5th, closed to lead 3 out, ridden and headed when fell last
Palawi is arguably the pick of the weights here on his victory at Stratford in March and John Quinn's gelding had an outing on the Flat last month. He could be a better bet than Plan A, who started favourite when fourth in the Fred Winter at The Festival last season and won his last two starts at Listowel and Fairyhouse but has also come unstuck when tried in this grade in the past. Kalann has been in good form on the Flat, while First Fandango could be open to further improvement this season and One For Joules has won at Perth and Ffos Las recently but there is surely more to come from TONIC MELLYSSE. Though penalised for a win in his native France last December, he was hugely impressive when scoring at Ayr in the spring and it speaks volumes that he was made favourite to beat Zarkandar and Kumbeshwar on his UK debut at Kempton earlier - he could outclass these.
Tonic Mellysse (FR) Evens0fav (11-8) Tracked leaders in 3rd, headway to join leader after 4 out, led 3 out, clear before last, readily, won at Ayr 2m 4yo hdl (3) gd in Apr beating Mason Hindmarsh (11-8) by 10l, 5 ran.
First Fandango 50-1 (11-0) Tracked leaders on inside, outpaced when hit 2 out, soon lost place and weakened, 15th of 23, 26l behind Zarkandar (11-0) at Cheltenham 2m 1f 4yo hdl Grade 1 (1) gd in Mar.
Kalann (IRE) 11-1 (11-2) Tracked leaders, 5th halfway, went 3rd entering straight, soon ridden and 2nd at last, no impression on winner run-in, lost 2nd on line, 3rd of 13, 4 1/2l behind Street Entertainer (11-7) at Punchestown 2m 4yo hdl gd in May.
Palawi (IRE) 25-1 (11-0) Led, clear 1st, not fluent 3rd, hit 4th, reduced advantage 6th, ridden and narrow lead when fell 2 out, in a race won by Zarkandar (11-0) at Aintree 2m 4yo hdl Grade 1 (1) gs in Apr, 9 ran.
Plan A (IRE) 2-1fav (10-8) Chased clear leader in 4th, closer from 4 out, challenged 2 out and soon led, ridden and drifted right, kept on under pressure and edged right again run-in, driven out to hold on, won at Fairyhouse 2m hdl gd in Sep beating Shabra Charity (10-0) by nk, 6 ran.
One For Joules (IRE) 11-1 (11-10) Raced wide in last trio, smooth headway on outside to 3rd before 3 out, soon tracking leader, led before 2 out, soon came well clear, easily, won at Ffos Las 2m hcp hdl 0-140 (3) gd beating Taste The Wine (10-1) by 6l, 8 ran.
