tracked winner, driven 3 out, weakened after next
made all, driven clear approaching 2 out, very easily
chased leaders, under pressure 9th, weakened 4 out, tailed off from next, moderate 3rd
Johney Foley is hard to fancy in this having been pulled up on his hurdling debut at Lingfield at the age of 11 but previous winners BAKU BAY and Rathlin Rose are closely matched. The latter scored over 3m at Taunton earlier this month and is open to further improvement but the former did well to beat hot favourite A Boy Named Suzi here nine days ago having chased home a subsequent winner at Leicester earlier so just gets the nod.
Baku Bay (IRE) 5-1 (11-6) Chased leader, challenged 3 out, led before next, ridden before last, in command last, kept on well, ridden out, won at Fakenham 2m 4f nh nov hdl (4) sft beating A Boy Named Suzi (11-12) by 6l, 8 ran.
Rathlin Rose (IRE) 10-3 (10-12) Led until after 2nd, led again after 7th until next, led again after 3 out, clear when shaken up before 2 out, kept on well, won at Taunton 3m mdn hdl (5) sft beating Castle Cheetah (10-12) by 6l, 7 ran.
Johney Foley (IRE) 33-1 (10-12) Pressed winner, hit 1st, led narrowly after 6th until 8th, weakened before next, soon behind and pulled up after 3 out, in a race won by Boardwalk Empire (10-7) at Lingfield 2m 7f nov hdl (4) hvy, 9 ran.
