tracked leading pair, ridden over 2f out, edged left and led over 1f out, headed final stride
held up in rear, not far away, ridden 2f out, no impression final furlong
disputed lead until over 4f out, pushed along 3f out, ridden and every chance 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong
held up in rear but not far away, headway to chase leader entering final furlong, soon driven, wore down leader to lead final stride
tracked leading pair, ridden 2f out, kept on under pressure towards finish
disputed lead until led over 4f out, ridden and headed and not much room over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
A very interesting Conditions race that should concern four of the six runners, of whom GENERAL ELIOTT looks to hold solid claims and can take this from Drogba and Ace Of Hearts. Paul Cole's gelding has the habit of throwing in the odd shocker and that is a big concern but his rating of 102 sets a decent standard here and if the son of Rock Of Gibraltar can run close to it he should take some beating. The four-year-old won well at Ascot on his seasonal reappearance and although later disqualified after a banned substance was found in his sample that performance still looks worth considering and it is backed up by a good third at Nottingham back in November. Both of those efforts look solid for this grade and as the gelding comes out best on the figures he's likely to start a worthy favourite. Drogba is very interesting on his debut for Marco Botti. The Argentine colt has won three of just four starts in Peru and although that form is hard to assess in the context of today's race it still makes him very interesting on paper although it will be some training performance if his handler has him ready to win after over a year off the track. The market should reveal more as to that ones chance but if he isn't fully fit then the biggest danger to our selection could be Ace Of Hearts. Chris Wall's 10-year-old has only started five races on the all weather, winning once, and has been off the track since July but his official rating of 99 is the second best on display here and so he merits respect. This trip of a mile will be perfect for the gelding and he was in good form during the early part of the year. Jaroslaw is the other runner with reasonable claims having taken fourth in a similar contest on his British debut last time out. The six-year-old has plenty of winning form in South Africa to call upon and looked a tad unfortunate at Kempton but his winning has all been at shorter distances and it remains to be seen whether he has the stamina for a mile so he's passed over, as are Lucky Dance and Pride Of Nation who both look out of their depth, so we return to General Eliott for our idea of the winner.
Ace of Hearts 16-1 (9-2) Dwelt, soon chased leaders, pushed along 2f out, weakened 2f out, 13th of 16, 13l behind Acrostic (9-0) at Sandown 1m hcap (2) gd in Jul.
Drogba (ARG) (8-11) won at Monterrico(PER) 7f 3yo fll Grp 3 std in Jun '08 beating Interoceanico (8-11) by 6l, 5 ran.
General Eliott (IRE) 20-1 (9-2) In rear, well off the pace, ridden over 2f out, no impression, 8th of 9, 22l behind Tranquil Tiger (9-4) at Lingfield 1m 2f listed stks (1) pol in Nov.
Jaroslaw (SAF) 22-1 (8-11) Held up in rear, not clearest of runs over 2f out, stayed on inside final furlong, went 4th towards finish and closing, 4th of 9, 5l behind Khor Dubai (8-10) at Kempton 7f stks (3) pol in Nov.
Lucky Dance (BRZ) 50-1 (9-2) Tracked leaders, ridden and weakened over 3f out, 7th of 9, 19l behind Tranquil Tiger (9-4) at Lingfield 1m 2f listed stks (1) pol in Nov.
Pride of Nation (IRE) 7-1 (8-8) In touch, switched right over 1f out, no impression on leaders, 4th of 9, 7l behind Clear Sailing (8-4) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f clm stks 0-70 (5) pol.
