outpaced in rear, kept on final furlong, no chance
chased leaders, ridden halfway, weakened 3f out
soon tracked leaders, going well, switched to outside 2f out, led 1f out, ran on well and driven out
outpaced towards rear, headway under pressure 2f out, soon one pace and beaten
soon tracked leader, led 3f out, headed over 2f out, chased leader to 1f out, one pace under pressure final furlong
chased leaders, ridden halfway, weakened rapidly 3f out
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, weakened 1f out
led, headed 3f out, losing place when snatched up 2f out
behind, driven along halfway, soon beaten
The vote here goes to Hunting Lodge, with the ones to fight out the places being Rocket, Terraquin, Aggravation, Principal Witness and Yawmi. The selection and Yawmi are well ahead of the others on official ratings although, since winning his first two races two years ago, the latter has failed to really get competitive in five races since, although some of them have come at Group and Listed level. Hunting Lodge has a similar profile - a winner of his first two races then failing to get competitive at a higher level. However, his overall profile means he is likely to be a fairly warm order here, and he gets our vote too. Turning to the others and Rocket's Windsor third last time was promising and he looked there as though he would benefit from a step up in trip, which he gets today, while Principal Witness showed improvement last time and has shouts for a place. That comment also applies to Terraquin, who will appreciate the drop to this level, while Aggravation's course and distance win last time makes him a threat to all, as it does Simplify, who marginally holds Aggravation on the form of that race. Overall, though, we will side with Hunting Lodge.
Port 'n Starboard 50-1 (9-0) Mid-division, ridden 3f out, soon weakened, 11th of 14, 8l behind Revenir (9-3) at Lingfield 1m 2f 3yo hcp (E3) pol in Oct.
Rocket (IRE) 25-1 (8-4) Behind, headway over 1f out, stayed on to take third inside final furlong, 3rd of 10, 3 1/2l behind Onlytime Will Tell (9-5) at Windsor 6f clm (D) gd in Aug.
Yawmi 33-1 (8-7) Led, ridden over 3f out, headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong, last of 7, 24l behind Etesaal (8-7) at Newmarket 1m 2f stk (2) gf in Apr.
Hunting Lodge (IRE) 25-1 (9-5) Raced stand side, chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened, 14th of 16, 15l behind Kehaar (8-9) at Newmarket 1m 3yo hcp 0-100 (C) gs in Jul '04.
Principal Witness (IRE) 10-1 (9-7) Held up towards rear, headway over 2f out, stayed on strongly inside final furlong, 3rd of 13, 2 1/2l behind Huxley (9-6) at Chepstow 1m clm (6) gf in Jun.
Terraquin (IRE) 9-1 (8-6) Held up mid-division until weakened quickly 2f out, 14th of 16, 14l behind Fearby Cross (8-9) at Salisbury 7f hcp (E3) sft in Sept.
Aggravation 8-1 (8-8) Held up mid-division, good headway over 1f out, ran on strongly to lead last strides, won at Lingfield 1m 3yo clm (5) pol beating Norcroft (9-0) by a nk, 12 ran.
Simplify 9-2 (8-11) Held up, headway and not clear over 1f out, ran on well under pressure towards finish, just failed, 2nd of 12, nk behind Aggravation (8-8) at Lingfield 1m 3yo clm (5) pol.
