made all, ridden 2f out, narrow advantage over 1f out, ran on strongly final furlong
keen behind leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
keen towards rear, stumbled on bend over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, took 3rd inside final furlong but no chance with leading pair
prominent, travelled strongly to challenge leader over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, drew clear of remainder but could not match winner final furlong
very slow to stride and detached early, in rear of main group after 3f, last when ridden over 2f out, switched left and headway over 1f out, kept on final furlong
pressed leader, ridden 3f out, weakened over 1f out
midfield, awkward on bend 5f out, ridden on outside 3f out, weakened quickly over 2f out, eased final furlong
All of these can be given a chance on their return to action and the betting may offer some clues. Heights Of Abraham won a handicap at Doncaster in October but is 5lb higher today while Tornadic has been raised 6lb for going close at Kempton. The rest make their handicap debuts including Strike Red and Ventura Mutiny, who both step up in trip for a yard with a good record in this. Mark Johnston also runs two but Naamoos struggled attempting to make all in soft ground last time so FOREST FALCON gets the speculative vote on an impressive victory over a mile at Yarmouth back in September. Colonel Faulkner opened his account on the all-weather in France and is not out of this either.
Naamoos (FR) 9-2 (9-3) Led, ridden and headed entering final furlong, weakened towards finish, 6th of 7, 8 1/4l behind Pythagoras (9-3) at Pontefract 1m lst stks (1) sft in Oct.
Tornadic 11-2 (9-7) Held up last, good headway on outside over 1f out, strong run inside final furlong, finished well, just failed, 2nd of 7, shd behind State Occasion (9-1) at Kempton 1m (4) pol in Oct.
Colonel Faulkner (IRE) (9-2) won at Deauville 7f mdn stks pol in Dec beating Juan Seguin (9-2) by 1 3/4l, 15 ran.
Forest Falcon (IRE) 10-1 (9-2) Made all, clear over 1f out, unchallenged, won at Yarmouth 1m stks (5) gf in Sep beating Chalk Stream (9-2) by 9l, 4 ran.
Heights Of Abraham (IRE) 10-3 (9-0) Made most, ridden 2f out, ran on, won at Doncaster 1m (3) gs in Oct beating Valorant (8-11) by 1 1/4l, 8 ran.
Ventura Mutiny 7-2 (9-0) Made all, shaken up and clear over 1f out, easily, won at Musselburgh 7f mdn stks (5) gd in Jun beating Chase The Dollar (9-0) by 4 1/2l, 4 ran.
Strike Red (IRE) 7-4fav (9-5) Close up, pushed and headway over 1f out, edged left and led entering final furlong, ran on, won at Pontefract 6f mdn stks (5) sft in Sep beating Burscough (9-5) by 2 1/4l, 9 ran.
