led, headed 3f out, soon ridden, rallied approaching final furlong, led inside final furlong, driven out
in touch, no impression from over 1f out
tracked winner, led 3f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, no extra
tracked leaders, smooth headway over 2f out, shaken to lead over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on
Short-priced horses have done well in this race and we are likely to have another one today; Flying Clarets has plenty in hand on official ratings and she can lead home Magic Echo. Richard Fahey's mare lost little caste in defeat when pipped by Kasumi at Pontefract recently. The first two were well clear on that occasion and with the stable in good form; the five-year-old can land the sixth win of her career. Friends Hope has been holding her form well, and the form of her recent Chester win looks solid. She goes on any ground and has an enviable strike-rate. However she has a bit to find on official ratings and she would probably need a career best to win here. Sam's Secret is yet to win this season but has run some fair races in defeat, but the main danger looks to be Magic Echo. A winner of two of her last three starts, Michael Dods' filly was impressive when winning at Doncaster. She won't mind the drop in trip and looks the obvious danger. Spabreaksdotcom completes the field but cannot be fancied on one poor run to date and so we will return to Flying Clarets as the nomination.
Flying Clarets (IRE) 7-2 (8-12) Led, ridden over 2f out, headed over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, 2nd of 9, 3/4l behind Kasumi (8-12) at Pontefract 1m lst fll stk (1) gd.
Friends Hope 3-1 (9-4) Slowly into stride, held up, headway over 4f out, edged left over 2f out, led over 1f out, kept on, won at Chepstow 1m 2f hcp 0-75 (5) gf beating Adorabella (8-8) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.
Magic Echo 16-1 (9-2) Made all, raced keen, soon clear, unchallenged, won at Doncaster 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gd beating Eglevski (9-7) by 5l, 9 ran.
Sam's Secret 5-1 (9-11) Held up, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on near finish, 2nd of 11, 1 1/2l behind Aphrodisia (9-3) at Newmarket 1m fll hcp (4) gf.
Spabreaksdotcom (IRE) 40-1 (8-9) Slowly into stride, always behind, 15th of 16, 38l behind Grande Annee (8-12) at Doncaster 7f 3yo mdn (5) gd.