held up rear, driven along 7f out, ridden and stayed on from 4f out, hard ridden to lead over 1f, ridden out
tracked leaders until ridden and weakened quickly 4f out (hung left throughout)
in touch, ridden to chase clear leaders over 3f out, weakened final furlong
in touch, went 2nd over 7f out, ridden over 2f out, one pace
tracked leaders until lost pace halfway, tailed off
held up rear, ridden after 4f, hard ridden over 3f out, plugged on
lead and soon clear, ridden 3f out, headed 2f out, weakened quickly
Bright Eagle has been a consistent enough sort and can come good at the expense of the well handicapped Croix de Guerre who let his supporters down last time. Unraced as a two-year-old, Bright Eagle has improved since moving into handicap company, posting fair efforts at Warwick and Nottingham. That latest effort suggested that he will improve for the step up in trip, and in addition the fast ground will suit. Croix de Guerre had the mark of a typical Sir Mark Prescott improver when scoring on his handicap debut at Brighton, a gelding operation no doubt contributing to his performance. He flopped badly on a return to the Sussex track, the suspicion being that the ground was much too fast. He will encounter similar conditions here, and although potentially still ahead of the handicapper we would prefer his chances if a deluge of rain came in time. That is unlikely however, and Bright Eagle is the selection. The rest make no appeal at all.
