held up in rear, smooth headway over 4f out, led on bit over 2f out, soon well clear, ridden out
held up, headway over 5f out, ridden over 4f out, soon weakened, tailed off
close up, chased leader over 3f out, soon hard ridden and weakened
behind, kept on under pressure final 4f, took 2nd near finsih, no chance with winner
prominent until weakened quickly 4f out, tailed off
always behind, tailed off
prominent, led after 4f, headed over 4f out, weakened over 2f out, tailed off
prominent, led over 4f out, headed over 2f out, soon outpaced by winner, lost 2nd near finish
led for 4f, stayed prominent, weakened 5f out, tailed off
mid-divison, ridden 4f out, ridden and outpaced final 2f
Bourbon Manhattan won well at Taunton and the runner-up has won since. The Sir Robert Ogden-owned French-bred Brave Spirit will have his supporters. The Phardante gelding Blue Canyon is hard to assess. Robert Alner's Presenting gelding Free Gift is another worth a second look while Nicky Henderson, who does so well at Newbury, runs the Carroll House five-year-old Lord Buckingham. Henrietta Knight saddles the late foal Moscow Fields while Mark Pitman, another to do quite well in this sphere, runs Zaffre d'Or and the interestingly bred Without A Doubt who will be ridden by Richard Johnson. The latter is by Singspiel out of a Roberto mare. Add in Susan Nock's Lisa du Chenet and Nigel Twiston-Davies' Young Bounder - both of them French-breds - and you have an interesting race but not one that is easy to fathom. Given his trainer's track record, the vote goes to Lord Buckingham.
