dwelt, keen, held up in last place, close enough, lost touch over 4f out, ridden and headway over 1f out, went 3rd inside final furlong
held up in touch, progress to 3rd 8f out, joined leaders 6f out, led well over 2f out, headed over 1f out, kept on one pace
set steady pace, joined 6f out, ridden and headed well over 2f out, soon weakened
tracked leaders until 8f out, progress to chase leader 2f out, led over 1f out, ridden and ran on
tracked leader, joined leaders 6f out, ridden and every chance well over 2f out, weakened and lost 3rd inside final furlong
The small field for this handicap should help KRISTALLO produce the good late for the third time in a row with Oxford City an interesting challenger after being pulled out of a race on Wednesday and Soundbyte has a likeable profile so could feature. The late nature of the selection's wins makes him hard to penalise for the assessor and it seems he is yet to catch up with Paul Webber's gelding. This runner to have found is forte in this assignment now undefeated in two efforts and he still should be weighted to go in again. We might be barking up the wrong tree but we assume that Oxford City missed his run in the week in preference for a crack at this. He almost got up last time late on so looks well worth another go over this far. Soundbyte is a consistent sort but is yet to win on the polytrack. He's up in the handicap despite a narrow reverse last time and we suspect that he is better on turf if only just. Epsom Salts was prolific last year but looks a little high in the weights while Cold Turkey should go well off this revised mark after an easy enough victory last time. It looks competitive again but Kristallo looks far from finished in his run of wins.
Epsom Salts 7-2 (9-12) Held up, outpaced 3f out, weakened 2f out, 7th of 9, 24l behind Worth A King's (9-6) at Epsom Downs 1m 4f app hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Oct.
Oxford City (IRE) 7-1 (8-9) Held up in touch, headway 3f out, kept on to take 2nd towards finish, 2nd of 8, 3/4l behind Turjuman (8-11) at Kempton 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) std in Mar.
Byblos 8-1 (9-9) Soon led, headed after 3f, hard driven to challenge 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 8th of 10, 12l behind Star Choice (8-12) at Lingfield 1m 5f hacp 0-70 (5) pol in Mar.
Soundbyte 9-2 (9-1) In touch, wide and effort to chase leader over 2f out, kept on one pace final furlong, 3rd of 8, 3/4l behind Mr Plod (8-7) at Lingfield 1m 5f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Mar.
Kristallo (GER) 7-2 (9-6) Tracked leaders, went 2nd over 2f out, ridden, stayed on well under pressure inside final furlong to lead post, won at Kempton 2m hacp 0-70 (5) pol in Feb beating Kentmere (9-11) by ns, 10 ran.
Cold Turkey 2-1fav (9-11) Held up in rear, headway 4f out, led over 1f out, pushed out, cosily, won at Kempton 2m hcp 0-65 (6) pol in Mar beating On Terms (8-11) by 1l, 14 ran.
Prince Charlemagne (IRE) 2-1fav (9-6) Held up, headway to track leaders 2f out, ridden and weakened final furlong, 5th of 8, 9l behind Mr Plod (8-7) at Lingfield 1m 5f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Mar.
