tracked leading pair, went 2nd over 5f out, led 3f out, ridden and kicked on over 2f out, clear when driven over 1f out, eased close home
tracked leading trio, went 2nd over 2f out, no chance with winner when weakened and lost 2 places over 1f out
led over 5f, chased leader until over 5f out, chased leaders, ridden and weakened 2f out
disputed lead, led over 11f out, ridden and headed 3f out, chased winner until over 2f out, weakened entering final 2f
held up in 7th, smooth headway over 2f out, chased clear winner over 1f out, closed inside final furlong, never able to challenge
in touch in 5th, ridden in 4th over 4f out, weakened over 2f out
last pair, reminders in rear over 5f out, soon lost touch, tailed off and eased
held up in 6th, ridden and outpaced over 3f out, rallied under pressure to 3rd over 1f out, no chance with leading duo
Mark Johnston muddies the waters by running a couple of recent 2m winners in Exemplary and Nezhenka. They're hard to separate here though the latter, who beat Rosewood Lad at Wolverhampton last time, had earlier finished behind runner-up DARK RANGER over C&D. The latter met all sorts of trouble on that occasion when looking an unlucky loser and is taken to make amends here. Bennelong had Magicalmysterytour behind when beaten three lengths over 1m4f on his latest start and makes most appeal of the remainder trying this longer trip for the first time.
Exemplary 9-2 (8-12) Tracked leader, joined leader 8f out, led over 2f out, ridden and headed approaching final furlong, kept on one pace, 3rd of 8, 7l behind Layline (8-11) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-95 (3) pol.
Nezhenka 9-2 (9-11) Raced wide held up, headway 3f out, led over 1f out, pushed out, readily, won at Wolverhampton 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Jan beating Rosewood Lad (9-3) by 2 1/4l, 10 ran.
Tasheba 50-1 (8-1) Mid-division, ridden 4f out, weakened over 2f out, 28th of 33, well behind Never Can Tell (8-11) at Newmarket 2m 2f hcp (2) gd in Oct.
Battleoftrafalgar 25-1 (9-8) Led, ridden over 3f out, soon headed, weakened 2f out, last of 9, 37l behind George Adamson (9-1) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Dec.
Dark Ranger 3-1fav (9-4) Held up in rear, not clear run switched right over 2f out, hampered inside final 2f, stayed on to 3rd inside final furlong, strong run to 2nd towards finish, not reach winner, to much to do, 2nd of 11, 1l behind First Avenue (9-7) at Kempton 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Jan.
Rosewood Lad 7-2fav (9-3) Tracked leaders, reminder 4f out, chased leader over 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, soon headed, driven and kept on, 2nd of 10, 2 1/4l behind Nezhenka (9-11) at Wolverhampton 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Jan.
Magicalmysterytour (IRE) 16-1 (9-10) Held up towards rear, effort and weakened over 1f out, last of 9, 8l behind Rocky Rebel (8-12) at Kempton 1m 4f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Jan.
Gilded Age 33-1 (9-1) Led over 1f, chased leader until 5f out, chased leaders, until weakened over 1f out, 5th of 11, 6l behind Rhythm Stick (9-9) at Folkestone 1m 4f hcp 0-75 (5) gs in Sep.
Bennelong 11-2 (9-3) Held up mid-division, headway over 2f out, weakened towards finish, 6th of 9, 3l behind Rocky Rebel (8-12) at Kempton 1m 4f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Jan.