tracked leading pair, challenged going well 2f out, led 1f out, stayed on and on top final 100 yards
held up in 4th, ridden and outpaced over 2f out, stayed on reluctantly to well held 3rd inside final furlong
led, clear 5f out, reduced lead over 2f out, soon joined, headed inside final 2f, weakened soon after
chased leader, challenged 2f out, led inside final 2f, ridden and headed 1f out, stayed on until no extra and held final 100 yards
TALAYEB has been hard to keep right and has raced just the once this year when third at Nottingham in July. He looks to have found a good opportunity to finally get off the mark here. American Smooth was fancied for his racecourse debut but gets a first-time visor here after a disappointing effort, while Wishformore looks out of sorts at present and is hard to fancy. On The Cusp produced a better effort last time but looks up against it on these terms.
Talayeb 9-2 (10-0) Held up towards rear, driven and headway 3f out, ridden to chase leading pair 1f out, kept on, not reached leaders, 3rd of 12, 1 1/2l behind Eastern Gift (9-6) at Nottingham 1m hcp 0-70 (5) gf in Jul.
American Smooth 13-8fav (9-3) Chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 5th of 8, 10l behind Mr Emirati (9-3) at Wolverhampton 7f mdn stks (5) pol in Nov.
On The Cusp (IRE) 18-1 (8-8) Tracked leaders, led over 2f out, headed approaching final furlong, stayed on under pressure, 2nd of 10, nk behind John Potts (8-9) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-50 (7) pol.
Wishformore (IRE) 10-1 (8-6) Always in rear, last of 9, 12l behind Tewin Wood (8-8) at Kempton 1m 3yo clm stks (6) pol.