slowly into stride, ran green and outpaced in rear, ran wide into straight 2f out, soon edged left, never near leaders
close up, left 2nd over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, led inside final furlong, stayed on
close up, left in lead over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra towards finish
went right start, soon tracked leader, carried right over 3f out, remained close up, ridden 2f out, weakened final furlong
chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, switched right entering final furlong, stayed on to take 2nd towards finish
slowly into stride, towards rear, staying on when switched left entering final furlong, nearest finish
keen, led, hung badly right and lost lead over 3f out, beaten from 2f out, heavily eased final furlong
mid-division, ridden 2f out, kept on, not pace to challenge
This maiden looks to chiefly concern Our Wee Girl, Barnezet and DESERT STRIKE and we will take the latter to land the prize. Paul Cole's colt was showing steady improvement on the turf over this, the minimum trip, and also ran well last time out over 6f at Southwell. The drop back to 5f looks no problem and the key here will hopefully be the faster Polytrack surface and we'll take him to get off the mark. Our Wee Girl is officially rated slightly higher than the selection and a reproduction of her most recent run would see her heavily involved, so if she takes the drop back in trip well then we expect her to be bang there. Barnezet is in a similar ballpark in terms of BHA ratings, although slightly inferior to the other pair on that basis. She has shown good form at both this and 6f so far but perhaps gives the impression that breaking her duck might come in claiming company or a small handicap. Hillside Lad also looks short list material after two promising runs at Kempton. He goes left handed here for the first time and drops back to 5f too, but the way he has gone so far suggests that may well be a plus so he should be thereabouts. Bees River looks best of the remainder but we will go with Desert Strike here.
Brynfa Boy Namid colt out of Funny Girl.
Contradiktive (IRE) 40-1 (9-3) Towards rear, ridden and outpaced over 2f out, never dangerous, 6th of 8, 11l behind Sharpener (8-12) at Lingfield 5f 2yo mdn (5) pol in Nov.
Desert Strike 5-6fav (8-6) Pulled hard, tracked leaders, effort approaching 1f out, kept on, 2nd of 9, 2 1/2l behind Denton Diva (8-5) at Southwell 6f 2yo mdn auc (6) fbs in Nov.
Barnezet (GR) 10-1 (8-5) Tracked leaders, kept on to take 2nd over 1f out, no chance with winner, 2nd of 8, 3l behind Glamorous Spirit (8-6) at Kempton 5f 2yo clm (6) pol in Nov.
Bees River (IRE) 9-4fav (8-1) Led, headed over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong, 3rd of 6, 5l behind Grissom (7-12) at Musselburgh 5f 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) sft in Nov.
Bobs Dreamflight 3-1jt-fav (8-9) With leader, challenged over 2f out, no extra well inside final furlong, 5th of 11, 2 1/2l behind Lexlenos (8-5) at Kempton 6f 2yo mdn auc (4) pol in Nov.
Desert Bump Medicean filly out of winning miler Greenfly.
Our Wee Girl (IRE) 6-5fav (9-0) Led, raced keenly, edged left and headed over 1f out, no extra well inside final furlong, 2nd of 10, 3 1/2l behind Freepressionist (9-0) at W'hampton 6f 2yo mdn fll aut (6) pol in Nov.
Silky Way (GR) 40-1 (8-12) With leader, led 4f out, headed over 1f out, soon beaten, 7th of 14, 10l behind Brief Encounter (9-3) at Bath 6f 2yo mdn (5) gf in Sept.
Hillside Lad 14-1 (8-11) Led, ridden over 2f out, edged left and headed inside final furlong, no extra close home, 3rd of 11, 1 1/2l behind Lexlenos (8-5) at Kempton 6f 2yo mdn auc (4) pol in Nov.
