steadied start, held up in rear, headway to go 2nd over 3f out, going well, ridden to lead just over 1f out, edged right, headed and no extra well inside final furlong
led until headed just over 1f out, weakened final furlong
slowly into stride, pulled hard, settled in rear, chased leaders 2f out, stayed on under pressure to lead well inside final furlong, hung left near finish
pressed leader 2f, lost place over 3f out, soon outpaced, tailed off over 2f out
tracked leaders, ridden and outpaced over 2f out
Mastership gets the call here ahead of Inquisitress. Mastership won with so much in hand when he won at Wolverhampton 11 days ago that a six-pound penalty hardly reflects the improvement he might contain based on that effort. He looks to be the one to beat. Inquisitress has won two of her last four races and her form may well have been bosted by now by the second race on today's card, while Highland Harvest is beginning to knock at the door and improvement from him in 2007 is likely. Finally, Nicomedia has shown ability and might improve for the step up to seven furlongs and Racing Times will surely get better as the season goes on: however, for today, we will side with Mastership.
Mastership (IRE) 5-4fav (9-3) Tracked leader, always going well, joined leader on bit approaching 1f out, cruised past to take lead inside final furlong, cleverly ridden, won at W'hampton 1m 1f 2yo hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Dec beating Chookie Hamilton (8-12) by a nk, 8 ra.
Racing Times 8-1 (9-1) Soon led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, 3rd of 8, 1 1/2l behind Sharpazmax (9-5) at Lingfield 7f 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Dec.
Highland Harvest 9-2 (8-11) Tracked leaders, effort over 2f out, edged left over 1f out, kept on, 3rd of 9, 1 1/2l behind Danehillsundance (9-0) at Lingfield 7f 2yo mdn (5) pol in Dec.
Inquisitress 13-8jt-fav (9-0) Tracked leader, ridden to lead 2f out, no chance with winner when headed inside final furlong, lost 2nd final stride, 3rd of 4, 4l behind Habalwatan (9-7) at Kempton 1m 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Dec.
Nicomedia (IRE) 6-1 (8-11) Disputed lead, ridden 2f out, one pace final furlong, 3rd of 10, 4 1/2l behind Basaata (9-0) at Lingfield 7f 2yo mdn fll (5) pol in Dec.