mid-division, ridden over 2f out, no impression
chased winner until 2f out, soon weakened
held up in rear, wide into straight, ridden, edged left and headway approaching final furlong, chased winner entering final furlong, kept on
close up, ridden to chase winner 2f out until entering final furlong, no extra
made all, ridden and ran on final furlong
held up towards rear, ridden over 2f out, kept on approaching final furlong
keen, held up in rear, ridden over 2f out, no impression
Fusili can land the day's feature event on the sand at the expense of Cusoon, Fortunate Isle and Langford. Fusili was given a great ride by James Doyle when scoring over the course-and-distance a fortnight ago, and as the runner-up Red Spell has since franked the form, Nick Littmoden's four-year-old has to be fancied despite meeting the third horse Very Wise on 6lb worse terms. With the vastly experienced Neill Callan in the plate, he is taken to follow up. Cusoon continues to creep up the weights on the back of three successive all-weather victories, and a further 7lb rise is a worry, while Fortunate Isle tries this surface for the first time. The ex-Barry Hills inmate is fit from an outing over hurdles at Catterick though and may be in the shake-up if quickly adapting. Langford seems to be improving bit-by-bit but is best watched, with preference for Fusili.
Bahar Shumaal (IRE) 5-1 (9-1) Held up mid-division, not clear run inside final 2f, soon ridden, one pace from over 1f out, 7th of 8, 3l behind Fusili (8-4) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-100 (2) pol.
Fusili (IRE) 9-1 (8-4) Tracked leader, led over 2f out, pressed from over 1f out, ran on strongly towards finish, won at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-100 (2) pol beating Red Spell (8-12) by 1/2l, 8 ran.
Cusoon 9-4fav (9-4) Towards rear, headway over 3f out, led inside last, kept on, won at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Dec beating Watamu (9-0) by 2l, 14 ran.
Langford 12-1 (8-8) Led and keen, headed after 1 furlong, ridden to chase winner 2f out, one pace, 3rd of 9, 2l behind Bahar Shumaal (8-13) at W'hampton 1m 1f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Dec.
Very Wise 11-1 (8-4) Raced keenly, soon led, headed narrowly over 2f out, pressed winner over 1f out to well inside final furlong, no extra, lost 2nd close home, 3rd of 8, 1l behind Fusili (8-4) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-100 (2) pol.
Fortunate Isle (USA) 11-1 (8-12) Mid-division, ridden 2f out, unable to quicken final furlong, 4th of 15, 3l behind Best Prospect (8-11) at Newbury 1m 2f hcp 0-95 (3) hvy in Oct.
General Knowledge (USA) 14-1 (8-10) Slowly into stride, soon pressed leader, lost place 3f out, soon weakened, tailed off final 2f, last of 10, 31l behind Red Spell (9-3) at Lingfield 1m hcp 0-100 (2) pol.