close up, ridden and every chance over 1f out, weakened final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden and every chance over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
mid-division, headway over 2f out, ridden and no impression final furlong
close up, effort to join winner over 1f out, every chance until not quicken near finish
slowly away always in rear
close up, ridden and weakened over 1f out
in rear, headway over 1f out, kept on one pace final furlong
towards rear, headway 2f out, ridden and stayed on towards finish
close up, ridden over 2f out, stayed on near finish
dwelt soon prominent, ridden 3f out, soon weakened
prominent under stands side rail, ridden to lead over 1f out, soon pressed, asserted near finish
held up, never a factor
Spykes Bay showed some improvement for his slide down the weights when runner-up at Wolverhampton last time. He should be thereabouts again but KEEP IT DARK is just preferred. The latter is up 4lb for his recent victory at Newcastle but a chance is taken he'll cope with today's faster ground. Mutafaakir is another looking to take advantage of his current mark having been placed in both starts earlier this month, but First Class is 7lb higher than when scoring over track and trip in August. The consistent See The Storm found Bang Tidy too good at Wolverhampton at the end of last year, although the latter will need to step up on his recent below-par effort at the same track to figure.
Spykes Bay (USA) 4-1 (9-6) Tracked leaders in 3rd, chased winner 2f out, ridden over 1f out, kept on and no impression, 2nd of 9, 3 1/2l behind Frontier Fighter (9-13) at Wolverhampton 7f hacp 0-70 (5) pol in Mar.
Relentless Harry (IRE) 9-2fav (9-0) In touch, ridden 2f out, kept on same pace, 5th of 12, 5l behind Hometown Glory (9-6) at Lingfield 1m hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Dec.
Kept 8-1 (10-0) Tracked leader, under pressure over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong, 5th of 6, 11l behind Country Western (8-13) at Kempton 7f mdn stks (4) pol in Mar.
Keep It Dark 10-1 (9-1) Held up in rear, headway over 3f out, soon chasing leaders, led over 1f out, ran on well, won at Newcastle 7f app hcp (6) gs beating Ted's Brother (8-12) by 1 3/4l, 11 ran.
Mutafaakir (IRE) 17-2 (8-12) Raced wide in touch, headway to chase winner over 1f out, one pace final furlong, 3rd of 10, 3 1/2l behind Snow Bay (9-0) at Thirsk 7f hcp 0-75 (5) gd.
Little Jimmy Odsox (IRE) 7-2fav (8-13) Tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong, 8th of 12, 4 1/2l behind Galatian (9-4) at Wolverhampton 6f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Oct.
First Class 5-1fav (8-9) Mid-division, ridden over 2f out, ran on final furlong, not reach leaders, 5th of 13, 1 1/2l behind Scottish Lake (9-6) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Oct.
Master Of Disguise 17-2 (8-12) Steadied start, held up in rear, headway approaching final furlong, never troubled leaders, 4th of 6, 7l behind Classic Colori (9-4) at Wolverhampton 7f sell stks (6) pol in Mar.
Rawaafed (IRE) 22-1 (9-13) In rear, ridden over 1f out, never dangerous, 8th of 9, 16l behind Polar Kite (9-9) at Catterick 7f clm stks (6) gd.
Ted's Brother (IRE) 11-4fav (8-8) Held up towards rear, pushed along and effort over 2f out, no impression, well beaten over 1f out, 10th of 12, 15l behind The Osteopath (9-6) at Newcastle 1m hcp 0-75 (5) gd.
Ptolemy 11-2 (8-11) Prominent, ridden and weakened over 2f out, last of 8, 29l behind Daddy Warbucks (9-3) at Thirsk 1m 3yo hcp 0-75 (5) gf in Aug.
Bang Tidy (IRE) 3-1 (8-9) Went right start, towards rear, one pace from over 1f out, 8th of 11, 4 1/2l behind Ace Master (9-5) at Wolverhampton 7f hacp 0-70 (5) pol.
Last Destination (IRE) 10-1 (9-7) Towards rear, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, no impression final furlong, 8th of 14, 10l behind Mango Music (9-9) at Newcastle 7f hcp 0-60 (6) gd in Sep.
See The Storm 5-1 (8-11) Outpaced, headway and not clear run over 1f out, ridden and stayed on to go 2nd near finish, 2nd of 11, 1/2l behind Bang Tidy (8-8) at Wolverhampton 7f hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Dec.
