chased leaders, ridden and weakened over 1f out
in touch, ridden to lead just inside final furlong, ran on well, driven out
held up behind leaders, effort on inside 2f out, ran on inside final furlong to press for 2nd near finish, no chance with winner
chased leader, ridden 2f out, chased winner inside final furlong, no impression, held for 2nd near finish
raced freely, led, ridden and headed just inside final furlong, weakened
always in rear, pulled up before halfway
Mutamared should have too much class for Eisteddfod, with Cav Okay and Karayel best of the remainder. Kevin Ryan hopes that Mutamared will pick up his fair share of decent prizes this year after the seven-year-old's winter in the Dubai sun. Soft ground ruled him out of a crack at last year's Ayr Gold Cup, and the plan is to go for a repeat in the big six-furlong handicap at Newmarket on 2,000 Guineas day. In truth he would not have to spot on to take today's contest en-route, and he should prove too good for Eisteddfod. The latter has been a grand servant to the Elite Racing Club in the past but has been hard to place successfully, so a tongue-tie is now applied. Hopefully he will give a good account, along with the likes of Cav Okay and Karayel who will both come on a ton for the run. Class should tell though, with Mutamared the confident selection.
Bigalos Bandit 4-1 (8-8) Chased leaders, driven over 2f out, one pace until weakened inside final furlong, 7th of 8, 7l behind Cornus (8-8) at Beverley 5f stk (3) gd in Sept '05.
Eisteddfod 4-1 (9-3) Led early, ridden and lost place 4f out, ran on again inside final furlong, 5th of 10, 2l behind Rising Shadow (9-3) at Windsor 6f lst stk (1) gs in Nov.
Mutamared (USA) (9-5) Held up, never reached challenging position, 7th of 12, 4l behind Conceal (8-11) at Nad Al Sheba 6f hcp gd in Feb.
Tony James (IRE) 12-1 (8-9) Tracked leaders, every chance over 1f out, no extra and weakened well inside final furlong, 9th of 13, 2 1/2l behind Wavertree Warrior (8-4) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Feb.
Black Oval 11-2 (8-13) Held up, rapid headway over 1f out, ran on strongly final furlong, just held, 2nd of 12, nk behind King of Charm (8-11) at Kempton 6f hcp 0-50 (6) pol.
Cav Okay (IRE) 16-1 (9-0) Prominent, ridden over 2f out, weakened 1f out, 10th of 13, 7l behind Enticing (8-11) at Goodwood 5f 2yo Grp 3 (1) gd in Aug.
Karayel (IRE) 50-1 (9-0) Prominent on far side, no impression under pressure and kept on same pace from over 1f out, 7th of 28, 4 1/2l behind Miss Beatrix (8-9) at Curragh 7f 2yo aut gs in Sept.