held up, chased leaders 2f out, effort 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, no extra close home
towards rear, ridden and progress over 1f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, joined leader post
behind, headway on outside 2f out, stayed on to lead well inside final furlong, joined post
led until headed well over 1f out, weakened quickly final furlong
towards rear, headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong nearest finish
always in rear, well behind over 2f out
pulled hard in mid-division, ridden and lost touch over 2f out, soon beaten
tracked leader, pressed leader over 2f out, led briefly well over 1f out, soon headed, kept on under pressure inside final furlong
in touch, effort over 1f out, no extra and weakened inside final furlong
prominent to over 2f out, soon weakened
tracked leader, led over 1f out, kept on under pressure, headed and no extra towards finish
Although African Sahara failed to get competitive in his last outing, he is much better than that effort would suggest and is given the benefit of the doubt as he drops back in grade today. Arc El Ciel, Hiawatha and Del Mar Sunset will not make it easy for the selection though and this could go right down to the wire. Even Kentucky King and Aventura, who are closely matched on their meeting at Wolverhampton last month, also merit a second look and it will be interesting to see if there are positive indications about them from the betting ring. However, they will all have a little to find if African Sahara hits the gates running today and Debbie Mountain-trained gelding if selected in the hope that the ease in grade will spark a revival in fortunes for the five-year-old. The son of El Gran Senor is adaptable regarding his best trip and may be too tough to get past if Oscar Urbina can get him to play ball today.