led, ridden and headed narrowly 2f out, kept on until weakened final furlong
raced keenly, tracked leader, led narrowly 2f out, soon headed, kept on until weakened inside final furlong
tracked leaders on outer, ridden to challenge over 1f out, not quicken and one pace final furlong
held up 5th, staying on when hampered and checked over 1f out, rallied final furlong to chase leaders, took 2nd final stride
tracked leader on inner, ridden to lead inside final 2f, soon hung left, hard pressed final furlong, asserted towards finish
With the benefit of an outing already this season Grand Fleet should have the edge over likely market rival City Of The Kings. Mark Johnsons' charge showed some smart form as a juvenile and having been gelded during the winter, showed no ill effects from that experience with a good second behind the progressive Fathsta. Taking everything into consideration that outing should leave in him spot on and although he is likely to appreciate further in time, he has the profile of one that could develop into a smart handicapper this summer. City Of The Kings stepped up from two eye catching runs in Newmarket maidens to land a turf maiden over this course, beating some highly taught of rivals in the process. His nursery victory at Chester left the impression that he will be better over further as he got outpaced early on around that tight circuit. With that in mind, it is a concern that this 7f may be on the sharp side but the stable have been hitting the target recently with only a small number of runners. A question mark hangs over the participation of Mister New York, he having contested a Lingfield contest on Saturday. He didn't get the run of the race there but all things considered, he has been winning weaker contests and may just start to struggle with the more unexposed sorts now reappearing. Always Ready is certainly worthy of consideration having finished second in a decent maiden at Yarmouth won by Dewhurst third Raven's Pass. He failed to progress from that effort and is probably best watched. Another interesting contest as the quality increases on the all-weather and Grand Fleet is our nomination.
Tia Mia 11-4 (8-12) Led, headed after 1f, remained in touch, ridden halfway, weakened inside final furlong, 4th of 7, 6l behind Sporting Art (9-5) at Ripon 6f 2yo stk (3) gd in Aug.
Gross Prophet 14-1 (8-6) Tracked clear leader, effort well over 1f out, soon faded, 5th of 7, 5l behind Bonus (9-12) at Lingfield 6f stk (3) pol in Jan.
Tadalavil 10-1 (9-7) Held up behind leaders, ridden over 2f out, driven and kept on same pace final furlong, 5th of 18, 4l behind Generous Thought (9-2) at Doncaster 6f 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) gf in Nov.
Grand Fleet Evensfav (9-7) Led, headed 5f out, led again 2f out, soon ridden, headed inside final furlong, not quicken, 2nd of 5, 1 1/2l behind Fathsta (9-1) at W'hampton 7f 3yo hcp (4) pol in Jan.
Mister New York (USA) 8-1 (9-1) Held up in rear, headway when not clear run approaching final furlong, not recover, 9th of 10, 7l behind Paco Boy (9-1) at Lingfield 7f 3yo lst stk (1) pol.
Always Ready 11-1 (9-5) Towards rear, made some moderate late headway, 9th of 14, 7l behind Bronze Cannon (9-2) at Kempton 1m 2yo hcp 0-85 (5) pol in Oct.
City of The Kings (IRE) 4-1 (8-10) Soon chasing leader, lost place and not clear run over 2f out, rallied over 1f out, ran on to lead well inside final furlong, won at Chester 7f 2yo hcp 0-95 (3) gf in Sept beating Alan Devonshire (9-7) by 3/4l, 7 ran.
