slowly into stride, in rear, ridden 3f out, kept on final furlong, never troubled leaders
held up towards rear, under pressure well over 2f out, kept on final furlong but not troubled leaders
always towards rear, kept on final furlong, never nearer
slowly into stride, in rear, headway 2f out, chased winner over 1f out, ran on well, gaining finish, just failed
chased leaders, driven along 3f out, weakening and hampered over 2f out, soon behind
held up in touch, chased winner 2f out, soon hard driven, weakened inside final furlong
soon led, clear over 2f out, hard driven approaching final furlong and still 6 lengths clear, weakened final 100 yards, just held on close home
held up towards rear, headway well over 1f out, kept on to take 3rd well inside final furlong, no impression on leaders
dwelt, in rear and wide, hard driven 3f out, soon beaten
chased leaders, outpaced over 2f out, kept on again inside final furlong but never ndang
prominent to over 3f out, soon under pressure and beaten
Topweight Free Option, from Ben Hanbury's stable makes a rare appearance on the all-weather in the first division of this one-mile handicap. However, he will need to improve on recent efforts on turf to take a hand and it is probably best to look elsewhere. Love's Design is now 11lbs lower than when scoring over course and distance 12 months ago but has shown little sign of encouragement of late. Effervesce and Lygeton Lad, both course winners last month, have to be respected having only been raised 2lbs for their narrow successes. Most-Saucy (better on the all-weather than turf) should appreciate the return to the Polytrack surface, while Soller Bay, who comes from a yard always to be respected with their runners here, has been given a chance by the handicapper. The one that gets the TEAMtalk vote though is the Mark Tompkins-trained Sky Dome. The nine-year-old ended the turf flat season in good form and carried that over with a win on Southwell's Fibresand track last month. Raised just 3lbs for that success, the son of Bluebird remains well treated and, if he can handle this surface, he could be the answer in a tricky opener.