tracked leaders, quickened to lead inside final furlong, soon clear, pushed out
led until headed half way, stayed prominent until over 1f out, weakened final furlong
prominent, ridden to join leader 1f out, every chance entering final furlong, soon one pace and lost 2 places near finish
in rear, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong to take 2nd near finish, not troubled winner
started slowly, always rear, outpaced final 2f
pressed leader, led narrowly halfway, joined 1f out, headed and no extra inside final furlong
held up in touch, ridden and slightly outpaced over 1f out, stayed on well inside final furlong to take 3rd near finish
A good race in which Hurricane Spirit is marginally preferred to Areyoutalkingtome. The selection was one of the most impressive performers on the artficial surfaces as a juvenile and while big prizes have been touted for the future, this small contest looks ripe for the taking today. Areyoutalkingtome has been campaigned over six furlongs before stepping up. His ability is without question but there is an awful lot of weight to be conceded in order to land the spoils. Party Boss has showed little in two recent starts but with Clive Brittain's yard in rude health - it would be folly to discount him so readily. Qadar produced a career best effort to take a Wolverhampton handicap and he will need to improve further in order to win this. Tony James was formerly trained by Brittain so it will be fascinating to see if Ken Cunningham-Brown can get him back to his juvenile form. Waterside is exposed and should prove the benchmark. Hurricane Spirit looks a horse to follow and we seek no reason to oppose on this occasion.
Areyoutalkingtome 7-4fav (9-1) Tracked leaders, not clear run over 3f out, weakened final furlong, 4th of 7, 4 1/2l behind Hattan (9-0) at W'hampton 1m 1f stk (2) pol.
Party Boss 15-2 (9-0) With leaders, led over 6f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, faded, 3rd of 7, 7l behind Cimyla (9-7) at W'hampton 1m 1f stk (4) pol in Nov.
Qadar (IRE) 7-2 (9-2) In touch, effort over 1f out, led 1f out, ridden out, won at W'hampton 6f hcp 0-100 (2) pol beating Prince Tum Tum (8-7) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.
Red Cape (FR) 25-1 (8-9) Soon led, ridden 2f out, headed and no extra inside final furlong, 4th of 9, 3l behind Mostashaar (8-11) at Lingfield 7f stk (3) pol in Oct.
Tony James (IRE) 16-1 (8-11) Held up and never near leaders, last of 12, 17l behind Welsh Emperor (8-12) at Newmarket 6f Grp 3 (1) gs in Oct '05.
Waterside (IRE) 11-1 (8-13) Prominent, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out, 7th of 9, 8l behind Vicious Warrior (8-8) at Ayr 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gs in Sept.
Hurricane Spirit (IRE) 1-3fav (9-3) Started slowly, held up last, chased leader over 2f out, led just over 1f out, pushed out, won at Kempton 7f 2yo stk (3) pol in Dec beating Fares (9-5) by 3/4l, 4 ran.
One More Round (USA) 20-1 (8-10) Held up in rear, ridden over 2f out, not clear run briefly over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, short of room near finish, 4th of 9, 2l behind Areyoutalkingtome (9-7) at Lingfield 6f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Dec.
