in touch, chased leaders 2f out, all out to lead final strides
towards rear, ridden and headway 2f out, stayed on
soon led, ridden over 2f out, weakened and headed approaching final furlong
slowly into stride, headway over 3f out, kept on one pace inside final furlong
broke well and led, soon headed, led again approaching final furlong, headed last strides
tracked leaders, ridden 2f out, hung left and weakened under pressure over 1f out
towards rear, headway on inside over 1f out, ran on
slowly into stride, soon in touch, one pace final furlong
always outpaced
Another tough handicap and the speedy Maromito is narrowly preferred to Orchestration and Nawayea. The last named ran well without the headgear last time and has a solid chance of at least making the frame building on that effort. She has been hard to win with so far but has been given a chance by the handicapper. Orchestration is a regular in contests of this nature and is no forlorn hope - even though his best form has been at Wolverhampton and Southwell. The drop to the minimum trip will suit and a bold bid cannot be ruled out. However, they will all have to be live to the stalls if Maromito shows his usual exuberance at the start. Robin Bastiman's charge was brought back into training to keep his stable star Borderlescott on the boil at home and has reportedly thrived on the exercise. That was certainly in evidence when Maromito made all to score at Musselburgh last time and, as this doesn't look any harder, the admirable 10-year-old is fancied to be hard to master once more.
Arfinnit (IRE) 50-1 (9-4) Chased leaders, ridden 3f out, faded inside final furlong, 7th of 17, 6l behind Stamford Blue (9-11) at Salisbury 6f ldy rds hcp (5) gf.
Auentraum (GER) 40-1 (8-1) Held up, headway on outer over 3f out, ridden to chase leader briefly 2f out, weakened final furlong, last of 11, 9l behind Mulberry Lad (8-12) at Lingfield 6f hcp (6) pol in Mar.
Dhurwah (IRE) 20-1 (8-12) Chased leaders over 3f, soon eased when beaten, 9th of 13, 17l behind Goodwood March (8-12) at Windsor 6f mdn stk (5) gs in Oct.
Katie Killane 16-1 (8-8) Led 1f, remained prominent, ridden half way, weakened over 1f out, 7th of 11, 5l behind Spirit of Coniston (8-4) at Southwell 5f clm (6) fbs in Feb.
Lady Hopeful (IRE) 16-1 (8-9) Slowly into stride, some late progress, 5th of 11, 3 1/2l behind Spirit of Coniston (8-4) at W'hampton 5f hcp 0-50 (6) pol.
Maromito (IRE) 16-1 (9-7) Made all, ridden over 1f out, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong, just held on, won at Musselburgh 5f sll (6) gd beating Compton Classic (9-0) by a shd, 9 ran.
Montillia (IRE) 25-1 (8-1) Mid-division on outside behind final 2f, last of 8, 14l behind Gifted Lass (8-7) at W'hampton 5f hcap (6) pol in Dec.
Nawayea 20-1 (8-10) Led early, ridden and switched left 2f out, squeezed through on inside to chase leader, kept on one pace close home, 3rd of 7, 2l behind Mr Forthright (8-9) at Bath 5f mdn aut stk (6) gf.
Orchestration (IRE) 16-1 (8-11) Held up mid-division, headway halfway and soon ridden, led approaching final furlong, headed and kept on final furlong, 2nd of 12, 2l behind Crafty Fox (9-0) at Southwell 6f Stks (41-45) (7) fbs.
The London Gang 25-1 (8-9) Mid-division, ridden 3f out, weakened 2f out, 10th of 12, 12l behind Blue Sky Thinking (9-5) at W'hampton 1m 1f app clm (6) pol in Apr.