tracked leaders, hard driven over 2f out, soon weakened
pulled hard in touch, weakened over 2f out
made all, quickened clear well over 1f out, ridden out
always in rear
tracked winner, effort over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
slowly into stride, held up, some late headway, never troubled leaders
held up in rear, headway over 1f out, soon chasing winner, not pace to challenge
WUNDER STRIKE has been in cracking form at the turn of the year and is suggested to make is a five-timer here, while Prince Of Thebes looks like emerging next best. The selection is now 15lbs higher than the first of those four successive wins, which have all come over course and distance. He was still a comfortable winner last time despite a margin officially given as just half-a-length, and he has every chance of following up under a latest rise of 6lbs. Prince Of Thebes has been in reasonable form of late but has not won since November 2008, which is a 22-race spell. Despite that, he has dropped only 10lbs in the handicap, but he was very competitive in defeat last time and should be thereabouts. Nora Mae appears to have been a victim of the handicapper since winning her maiden at Warwick 16 months ago. She is taking a long time to slip in the weights to a winnable mark and is unlikely to get her nose in front again from a pitch of 75. Grey Boy is 2lbs lower than his last win, which gives him a squeak, especially with an extra 7lb claimed by his pilot, although even at that he has hardly shown enough of late to be more than a speculative punt. Dajen is going the right way and might find improvement for this step up in trip, but we prefer the claims of Wunder Strike to make it a five-timer.
Nora Mae (IRE) 18-1 (9-2) Tracked leader, hard driven well over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 4th of 8, 3 1/2l behind Bawaardi (9-0) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f app hcp 0-75 (5) pol.
Justcallmehandsome 12-1 (9-2) Soon led, headed over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong, 6th of 8, 6l behind Bawaardi (9-0) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f app hcp 0-75 (5) pol.
Prince Of Thebes (IRE) 12-1 (8-13) Prominent, led over 2f out, headed inside final furlong, stayed on under pressure, 2nd of 10, 1l behind Hereford Boy (8-10) at Kempton 1m hcp 0-75 (5) pol.
Grey Boy (GER) 20-1 (8-1) Held up in rear, no real progress final 2f, 7th of 11, 10l behind Seek The Fair Land (8-10) at Kempton 7f hcp 0-80 (4) pol in Dec.
Wunder Strike (USA) 2-1fav (8-12) Led early, chased leaders, went 2nd over 1f out, led inside final furlong, driven out, won at Lingfield 1m handicap (0-68) (4yo+) (6) pol beating Goodbye Cash (8-7) by 1/2l, 11 ran.
Expensive Problem 16-1 (8-11) Behind, headway on wide outside over 3f out, hard ridden to challenge approaching final furlong, soon weakened, 8th of 9, 7l behind Nacho Libre (8-13) at Kempton 7f hacp 0-70 (5) pol.
Dajen 22-1 (8-12) Behind, good headway over 1f out, no extra towards finish, 4th of 10, 1l behind Kuanyao (9-4) at Kempton 7f hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Nov.
