held up in touch, headway when mistake 3 out, soon pushed along, ridden approaching last, stayed on under pressure to lead near finish
chased leaders, ridden and effort between last two, kept on one pace run-in
mid-division, weakened halfway
tracked leader, led approaching 2nd, headed approaching 3 out, soon weakened
pulled hard in touch, headway when mistake 3rd, close up next, weakened quickly approaching 3 out, soon pulled up
tracked leaders, ridden and weakened approaching 3 out, turned off when pulled up before last
towards rear, never dangerous
led, headed approaching 2nd, remained closeup, led again approaching 3 out, headed towards finish, no extra
towards rear, never dangerous
towards rear, struggling when fell 2 out
in touch, mistake 4th, outpaced 3 out, kept on one pace from next
in touch, ridden after 3 out, outpaced next
towards rear, never dangerous
towards rear, headway underpressure approaching 2 out, brief effort between last two, 4th and held when mistake last
towards rear, never dangerous
Stage By Stage will have to be at his best to see off Basinet and Looking Down. Charlie Egerton's recruit was all out to beat Dark Ben in a maiden at the track and McCoy will need to be at his strongest this afternoon to boot him home under a penalty. Basinet was a frustrating character on the flat. He finished third in a weak heat at Sedgefield so is at least open to improvement. Looking Down is from the Pat Haslam team. He had decent flat form for Richard Hannon and was at one-stage rated 80+ by the handicapper on the level. Any money would be highly interesting. Wyn Dixie races here following a six month absence. He has since left Martin Pipe for Peter Monteith but there is no problem here with an ability to handle the surface. Compton Eagle did not settle on his hurdling debut at Cartmel. African Sunset is watched despite modest form in Ireland. Stage By Stage is given the verdict.
