Not the most competitive of juvenile contests and one that can be taken by Nanga Parbat, with Diego Cao, Mariella and Afrad others to consider. The selection looked very much the winner when falling two out travelling well at Wincanton on debut earlier in the month. Despite that upset, he is likely to be a fair bit better for the experience and looks the type to improve. He won't have to get too much better to have a serious chance against some more experienced rivals and he can score. Diego Cao sets the standard from what we have seen on the racecourse and his experience will stand him in good stead for the battle ahead, so we expect him to be thereabouts. Afrad comes from a yard who do particularly well here and merits the utmost respect. He is another who doesn't need to improve much to get involved, and he was a winner with some cut on the Flat in France, so he should handle conditions, while Mariella is an unknown quantity, but Christian Von Der Recke's raids are never wasted, so we can also expect her to be involved. Nevertheless, Nanga Parbat showed us enough last time to suggest this can be his race.
