held up, never on terms
prominent, ridden to lead 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
held up, driven and headway over 3f out, soon one pace
led, hung left throughout, ridden and headed 2f out, one pace
tracked leaders, ridden and weakened over 3f out
pulled hard, held up in touch, ridden and weakened over 4f out
tracked leader, ridden 3f out, every chance over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up, headway 4f out, led on inside final furlong
in touch til halfway
It is hard no know what to make of some of these, but of the newcomers the ones to concentrate on are Big Rob, who is out of a mare that won several races over hurdles,Before Dark, who is a half-brother to winning chaser Dalcassian Buck and Progressive, a half-brother to bumper winner Tell The Country and with his stable having a 27% strike rate with it's bumper runners, he gets the vote. It is also worth noting that the selection had three other options to run over the festive period including the Championship Open Flat Race at Chepstow on Saturday. Crossbow Creek has the advantage of experience, but the form of his Wetherby success was nothing special and he looks likely to struggle under his penalty. Before Dark is from a yard that is going through a quiet spell at present and may well prefer a stiffer test than he is likely to get here, while Native Shore is out of a mare that won five races over hurdles, four of them over two-and-a-half miles. Soviet Society attracted support on his debut, but got bogged down in the testing conditions. He is thought capable of better, but we will stick with Progressive to make a winning debut.
