held up mid-division, headway over 2f out, quickened clear inside final furlong, easily
in touch, outpaced over 2f out, stayed on under pressure
stumbled start, held up in last, headway over 2f out, chased leaders over 1f out, faded final furlong
broke well, chased leaders, effort over 1f out, no impression
slowly into stride, prominent, led over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on well, not pace of winner
held up, headway over 1f out, ran on into 4th inside final furlong, never nearer
sent forward to lead over 5f out, headed over 1f out, soon rallied and every chance, no extra closing stages
led until over 5f out, remained prominent, weakened over 1f out
First-time headgear appeared to work the oracle for ZMHAR on last week’s reappearance at Chelmsford. He dotted up by six lengths over today’s trip and can shrug off a penalty with Oisin Murphy keeping the winning partnership intact. Black Medick scored over track and trip earlier and drops back down in class after a modest effort last time while the unexposed Assimilation was narrowly beaten in novice company here recently and makes his handicap debut along with Altar Boy. On The Line is having his second start after wind surgery with blinkers added today while Laxmi returns to action, though may do better this year.
Zmhar (IRE) 5-1 (9-6) Held up behind, driven and headway on inside over 1f out, led inside final furlong, soon quickened clear, pushed out, impressive, won at Chelmsford City 7f hcp (5) pol in Feb beating Bubbelah (8-10) by 6l, 9 ran.
Black Medick 9-2 (9-2) Raced keenly, tracked leaders, weakened final furlong, 4th of 5, 2 1/2l behind Nefarious (9-5) at Wolverhampton 7f hcp (4) pol in Jan.
Mitigator 13-2 (9-2) Pushed along early, in touch, ridden and headway over 2f out, weakened final furlong, 8th of 11, 11 1/4l behind Top Rank (9-2) at Lingfield 1m stks (5) pol in Dec.
Alicia Darcy (IRE) 5-2 (8-8) Chased leaders, outpaced over 1f out, never a threat, 3rd of 8, 8 3/4l behind Cockney Hill (8-13) at Kempton 6f stks (5) pol in Feb.
On The Line (IRE) 10-11fav (9-10) Chased leaders, hard driven over 2f out, faded final furlong, 4th of 5, 3 1/4l behind Probability (9-7) at Chelmsford City 6f hcp (5) pol in Feb.
Laxmi (IRE) 12-1 (9-4) Tracked leaders, ridden and every chance over 1f out, kept on same pace final furlong, 5th of 14, 5 1/4l behind Al Fajir Mukbile (9-9) at Newmarket 7f (5) gd in Oct.
Altar Boy 7-1 (9-1) Led over 2f, with leader, pushed along to lead over 2f out, ridden and headed just over 1f out, faded towards finish, 3rd of 10, 2 3/4l behind Gold Bere (8-13) at Lingfield 1m stks (6) pol in Jan.
Gabrial The Giant (IRE) 25-1 (9-9) Steadied in rear, outpaced halfway, badly hampered over 3f out, soon eased, virtually pulled up, 9th of 10, dist behind Sir Ox (9-4) at Kempton 1m hcp (6) pol in Feb.
Assimilation (IRE) 5-1 (9-2) Tracked leader, ridden inside final furlong, held post, 2nd of 9, shd behind Bay Of Naples (9-2) at Lingfield 7f stks (5) pol in Feb.