keen, disputed lead until ridden and led over 2f out, headed over 1f out, stayed on same pace
disputed lead until over 2f out, soon weakened
held up in touch, ridden 3f out, rallied and stayed on well inside final furlong
disputed lead from over 6f out to 3f out, remained close up, ridden over 2f out, switched left approaching final furlong, rallied and stayed on close home
held up in touch, quickend up to lead over 1f out, soon edged right, ridden out
Quite a competitive contest as you would expect for a Listed race, with all six of the runners, winners. Rimrod did nothing but progress through his first season and ended up a respectable 8th in the Dewhurst. That form is comparable with anything that his rivals achieved and he must go well. Dust Cover is a likeable sort, but he looks to face a stiff task on what he has shown to date, while Dutch Gold's third in a classified race doesn't look good enough, even allowing for the fact that he was taking on older horses that day. Mezuzah, so impressive when running away from the opposition on soft ground at Doncaster, may find this fast ground far from ideal. Prince Tum Tum has plenty of speed in his pedigree and it remains to be seen whether he will be as effective over this trip. Even if he is he looks to have it all to do with Captain Saif, who beat him fair and square at Kempton last year. A big colt, he always looked as though he would make a better three-year-old and with his yard in such good form at Newmarket in the week, as they showed when landing the Craven with Hurricane Alan, Richard Hannon certainly looks to have a strong hand in the colts division and Captain Saif is taken to remain unbeaten.
