held up in rear, still plenty to do when came wide into straight 2f out, stayed on final furlong to take 2nd final 100 yards not reach winner
tracked leaders, not much room and lost place 5f out, headway on inside over 1f out, no impression inside final furlong
tracked leaders, effort to join leaders 6f out, hard ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out
slowly away, pulled hard, held up in rear, headway to track leaders 6f out, ridden 3f out, soon beaten
held up in rear, headway on outside 4f out, led over 2f out, hard ridden over 1f out, stayed on well
took keen hold, headway to join leader 10f out, hard ridden 2f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
always last, lost touch final 3f, virtually pulled up over 1f out
in touch, soon on inside, badly hampered, hit rail 5f out, ridden when hampered again 4f out, not recover, eased over 1f out
led at steady pace, ridden 3f out, headed over 2f out, soon weakened
took keen hold, tracked leader to 10f out, lost place 7f out, headway on inside over 1f out, stayed on final furlong to take 3rd final 50 yards
Taxman is only 1lb higher than when scoring here over 1m4f last time, has winning form on turf over this far and is taken to follow up at the main expense of Nawow and Reggae Rhythm. The last mentioned has been in good form with two wins over similar trips over the Christmas period but gave the impression that he was now in the handicapper's grip last time and the 12-year-old may be best watched. Montosari deserves to win a race after some fine efforts in defeat of late but has yet to prove conclusively that he stays this far; a comment that also applies to Lewis Island. Stance could be of interest back on the level although a bigger threat is likely to come from Nawow, who has the beating of Reggae Rhythm on running here last time. Taxman has an obvious chance though and he gets the vote.
Reggae Rhythm (IRE) 7-1 (8-10) Started slowly, held up in rear, headway 3f out, not clear run on inner over 2f out, kept on final furlong, not reach leaders, 3rd of 14, 2 1/2l behind Prins Willem (9-9) at Lingfield 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Feb.
Nawow 12-1 (8-9) Prominent, ridden to lead over 2f out, headed final 100 yards, no extra, 2nd of 14, 1 1/2l behind Prins Willem (9-9) at Lingfield 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Feb.
Stance 16-1 (8-12) Tracked leader 5f, stayed prominent, one pace final 2f, 6th of 10, 3 1/2l behind Garden Society (8-12) at Lingfield 2m hcp (D2) pol in Feb '05.
Lewis Island (IRE) 5-1 (9-7) Slowly away, headway under pressure over 2f out, stayed on, 4th of 10, 4l behind Tignasse (7-13) at Lingfield 1m 5f clm (6) pol in Feb.
Monte Cristo (FR) 16-1 (8-8) Led until headed over 2f out, kept on until weakened inside final furlong, 5th of 14, 4l behind Prins Willem (9-9) at Lingfield 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Feb.
Montosari 10-1 (8-9) Chased leaders, led well over 3f out, ridden clear over 1f out, caught post, 2nd of 12, shd behind Llamadas (9-1) at Lingfield 1m 5f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Feb.
Spy Game (IRE) 25-1 (11-2) Rear of mid-division, no extra from over 4f out, 19th of 24, 18l behind Rockstown Boy (10-12) at Galway 2m hcp gf in Jul '04.
Taxman (IRE) 10-1 (8-7) Raced wide, tracked leaders, ridden 3f out, headway over 1f out, driven and stayed on to lead near finish, won at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-70 (5) pol in Feb beating Captain Margaret (8-12) by a nk, 13 ran.
Aristi (IRE) 8-1 (8-2) Tracked leaders, lost place over 3f out, tailed off, last of 6, well behind Rooftop Protest (9-7) at Musselburgh 2m hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Nov.
Lady Pilot 20-1 (8-12) Tracked leader to over 2f out, soon hard ridden, stayed on under pressure final furlong, 3rd of 14, 2 1/2l behind Tycheros (8-6) at Lingfield 2m hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Feb.
