led and set slow pace, hung left on bend after 4th, headed 5th, behind from next
tracked leaders, chased winner from 3 out, weakened last
tracked leader until weakened after 3 out
held up, ridden 2 out, soon held, mistake last
held up, headway 4th, quickened up and led 5th, clear when mistake 2 out, easy
in touch and mistake 2nd, outpaced 4 out, plugged on
held up, headway 4 out to chase leading pair, ridden after 3 out, soon held
It's not easy to make head nor tail of this little lot, but with the yard in cracking form we will just side with BALTHAZAR KING to get the better of Dreamy Sweeney. Neither animal would be in the top echelon in their respective stables, but Balthazar King does at least have a bumper win to his name and comes in to this with some relatively solid form. He would probably prefer a bit of juice in the ground but acts well enough on good and stays this far, so we'll side with him. Dreamy Sweeney beat Foxhunters winner Cappa Bleu in an Irish point last year and clearly stays well. However, he has been far from impressive in three starts since joining the Henderson team and unless the good ground helps him show a marked improvement he is no good thing. Petito was out of his depth and badly in need of his recent Ascot run and if he is now capable of reproducing last year's best form he'd have a squeak, although his better efforts have come when there has been some cut. Bankstair has shown very little, but you wouldn't rule out improvement from him with the yard now going better, but preference is for Balthazar King.
Argentato 40-1 (10-9) Prominent, ridden over 5f out, weakened 4f out, 11th of 15, well behind Double Pride (10-12) at Warwick 2m nhf (6) hvy in Jan.
Balthazar King (IRE) 15-2 (11-7) Held up, not clear run approaching 3 out, headway when hit 3 out, weakened last, 4th of 9, 11l behind Patsy Finnegan (11-6) at Ludlow 2m 5f nov hcp hdl (3) gd in Feb.
Bankstair (FR) 100-1 (10-12) Always behind, tailed off, 14th of 17, well behind According To Dick (11-8) at Newbury 2m 5f nh nov hdl (4) gd in Feb.
Bob's Your Uncle 14-1 (10-12) Tracked leaders, ridden 3 out, mistake 2 out, soon weakened, 4th of 13, 30l behind Liberate (10-12) at Hereford 2m 1f 3yo mdn hdl (4) gs in Nov '06.
Dreamy Sweeney (IRE) 10-1 (11-0) Took keen hold early, held up, well off the pace, went moderate 3rd at 7th, ridden after 3 out, beaten when fell at the last in race won by Wendel (11-8) at Ascot 2m 3f nov hdl (3) hvy in Feb, 7 ran.
Melteme (IRE) 10-1 (10-13) Prominent, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened, 14th of 15, well behind Tocca Ferro (10-7) at Wincanton 2m nhf (5) sft.
Petito (IRE) 150-1 (10-0) Mistake 1st, raced wide and always in rear, tailed off, 13th of 14, well behind Serabad (10-10) at Ascot 2m 3f hcp hdl (2) hvy in Feb.
