held up, headway over 3f out, soon ridden, kept on same pace
mid-division, ridden over 3f out, hampered over 1f out, never troubled leaders
held up, some headway over 1f out, no impression
held up towards rear, headway well over 2f out, soon hung right, led 1f out, ran on
mid-division, ridden and headway over 2f out, hampered over 1f out, stayed on final furlong
held up, never dangerous
slowly into stride, soon led, headed over 2f out, stayed on inside final furlong
in touch, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
tracked leaders, ridden and weakened over 2f out
in touch, effort over 1f out, soon hampered, kept on same pace
tracked leader, led over 2f out, headed 1f out, held when hampered inside final furlong
in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakening when hampered over 1f out
In a race that is maybe not as competitive as it might first look, Khanjar, Fine Palette, Prairie Wolf, Hip Hop Harry and Coup de Chance will all have their supporters but we will side with Prairie Wolf. Khanjar is lightly raced and open to improvement and his mark of 75 hardly seems excessive. That said, he has been a bit disappointing and Fine Palette has a more likeable profile. He looked green when scooting home on soft going at Lingfield last time and a handicap mark of 79 is hardly overburdening him, and his stable is now in much better form. Prairie Wolf is extremely well handicapped on his form of two years ago, form which stands out in what is not a strong handicap overall. Tight Squeeze has done well on the all-weather but needs to improve on the best of his Turf form, and better was clearly expected on Turf of Hip Hop Harry when he ran poorly at Newmarket last time after having shown up well in two all-weather runs before that. Finally, with a good rider claiming three pounds, Coup de Chance, even off topweight, looks competitively weighted in this 12-furlong affair. Overall, though, we just give the call to Prairie Wolf.
