held up in touch, driven and headway to lead over 2f out, ridden clear over 1f out, ran on strongly
in touch, pushed along over 5f out, soon lost place, behind final 2f
dwelt, held up in rear, headway on inner when not clear run over 2f out, kept on well inside final furlong, no chance with winner
chased leaders, driven over 3f out, weakened over 2f out
led until over 2f out, soon weakened
tracked leader, effort over 2f out, soon no impression
A winner over hurdles, Russian Bolero has been well beaten on the Flat recently and is giving weight to J'ASPIRE. The latter finished runner-up over 1m2f at Chelmsford a week ago when giving the impression this extra test of stamina would suit so Stuart Williams' filly gets the nod. Byron Flyer ran well in a bumper last year and makes his debut on the level along with another winning hurdler in Rhythm Star but Hank Williams was well beaten in a maiden at Chelmsford last month.
Byron Flyer 25-1 (10-12) Held up towards rear, ridden over 3f out, headway over 2f out, kept on inside final furlong, 4th of 11, 2 3/4l behind Brave Richard (11-5) at Market Rasen 2m 1f (6) gd in May.
Glimmer Of Hope 100-1 (9-8) Slowly away in touch in rear, pushed along halfway, weakened 3f out, last of 7, dist behind Wavelet (9-0) at Lingfield 1m 2f mdn stks (6) pol in Dec.
Russian Bolero (GER) 50-1 (9-8) Slowly into stride, held up towards rear, headway to join leader over 5f out, weakened well over 2f out, eased over 1f out, 7th of 8, 31 1/4l behind Flashman (10-0) at Chelmsford City 2m hcp (4) pol in Jan.
Hank Williams 66-1 (9-5) Slowly into stride, in rear, pushed along 4f out, soon outpaced, went poor 4th final furlong, 4th of 5, 14 1/4l behind Kelly's Finest (9-0) at Chelmsford City 1m 5f mdn stks (6) pol in Dec.
Rhythm Star 25-1 (11-0) Chased winner until 8th, not fluent and outpaced 10th, soon lost touch, 3rd of 4, dist behind Kalane (11-0) at Huntingdon 2m 4f (4) gs in Dec.
J'aspire 9-2 (9-0) Held up in last pair in touch, ridden to chase leaders over 1f out, stayed on to take 2nd final 50 yards, not reach winner, 2nd of 6, 1l behind Chorlton House (9-5) at Chelmsford City 1m 2f mdn stks (6) pol in Jan.