pulled hard, led, ridden and headed over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
raced wide, tracked leader, ridden and led over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on same pace
keen, held up in rear, ran on final furlong, too much to do
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, switched right approaching final furlong, stayed on to take 2nd near finish
in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong
keen, held up, improved on outside over 3f out, soon ridden and weakened 2f out
close up, ridden 3f out, weakened 2f out
held up towards rear, headway on outside over 1f out, not reach leaders
always prominent on inside, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on
pulled hard, held up, some headway on outside over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong
held up, headway 3f out, chased leading pair approaching 2f out, weakened final furlong
held up in last place, still last entering final 2f, ran on final furlong, too much to do
Quite a competitive race for the grade of contest in which not too many can confidently be ruled out. The in-form Whippersnapper, Piquet and Zarfasha are all respected as live dangers but the unexposed Musical Gift showed enough on his reappearance to suggest that he has more to offer and the Terry Ramsden-owned colt is given a slender vote of preference. The son of Cadeaux Genereux, a former inmate of David Loder's, immediately caught the eye when he made his debut here as a three-year-old but failed to progress as expected and had only a limited campaign as last season went on. However, he reportedly strengthened up nicely over the winter and ran out a comfortable, if unimpressive, winner on his debut for his new yard at Wolverhampton last month. Plans remain fluid for Musical Gift regarding a switch to hurdling, but he created the impression that he is worthy of following for the time being and he looks to have been found a good opportunity to shine whilst his confidence is on a high. Whippersnapper appeals as the biggest threat after a series of solid performances over the last month or so. However, he has been struggling to get home when tried beyond six furlongs and he may find the proven stamina of Musical Gift his undoing today.