chased leaders, driven along over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong
held up in rear, never dangerous
mid-division, headway over 2f out, soon ridden and weakened
tracked leaders, switched out over 1f out, led inside final furlong, flashed tail, ran on well
always in rear
held up towards rear, not clear run over 2f out, soon beaten
held up in rear, headway 2f out, stayed on one pace final furlong
chased leader, pushed along 3f out, bumped over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, near finish
held up, headway on wide outside 3f out, never reached leaders
mid-division, ridden 3f out, soon beaten
in touch, ridden 3f out, no impression final 2f
led, ridden and headed inside final furlong, chased winner after, no impression when lost 2nd, near finish
mid-division, ridden 3f out, weakened 2f out
raced wide in mid-division, ridden on outside 3f out, weakened over 2f out
Robustian comes into this on the back of a narrow success at Pontefract last week and has to be respected but a 4lb rise for that success may prevent him from following up and a better bet looks to be Red Gala, who gets the vote ahead of Along The Nile. The last mentioned stepped up on his reappearance run when a creditable second at Pontefract last week and has claims on that evidence racing off just a 1lb higher mark today. Gary Moore's Art Modern has been in good form on the all-weather of late but has more to do back on turf here, while Samurai Way is open to plenty of improvement but needs to improve to trouble the judge. Brief Goodbye normally needs a run or two to put him spot on, while Dafarabad has failed to take to hurdles and it is impossible to know how much ability he retains on his return to the level. The vote then goes to Sir Michael Stoute's Red Gala, who improved with each start last term and is potentially well treated for his debut in a handicap.
Robustian 16-1 (8-5) Tracked leaders, ridden well over 1f out, ran on to lead towards rinish, won at Pontefract 1m hcp 0-95 (3) gd beating Benandonner (8-4) by a hd, 14 ran.
Top Gear 5-1 (9-0) In touch pulling hard, switched left and headway over 1f out, soon led, ran on well, won at Newmarket 1m 2f 3yo mdn (5) gf in Apr '05 beating Signatory (9-0) by 1 1/2l, 11 ran.
Montpellier (IRE) 22-1 (8-8) Held up towards rear stand's side group, weakened over 2f out, 16th of 20, 30l behind Very Wise (8-11) at Newcastle 1m hcap (2) gs in Mar.
Red Gala 4-7fav (9-3) Chased clear leader, led inside final 2f, soon clear, won at Brighton 1m 4f mdn stk (5) gs in Oct beating Flame Creek (9-10) by 9l, 5 ran.
Along The Nile 15-2 (9-1) Chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, stayed on, 2nd of 11, 2l behind Charlie Tokyo (9-2) at Pontefract 1m 2f hcp 0-100 (2) gd.
Strawberry Lolly 4-1 (9-4) Held up, headway 4f out, not much room and outpaced over 2f out, kept on inside final furlong, 6th of 7, 4l behind Heaven Knows (9-7) at Chester 1m 2f 3yo hcp (3) gd in Aug.
Art Modern (IRE) 9-4 (8-13) Held up in last place, ridden over 1f out, ran to lead final 50 yards, won at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-95 (3) pol beating Lemonette (8-2) by a nk, 4 ran.
Samurai Way 6-1 (9-12) Chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 6th of 19, 14l behind Leslingtaylor (9-4) at York 1m 4f app hcp (4) sft in Oct.
Brief Goodbye 10-1 (9-5) Held up, headway over 2f out, driven over 1f out, ran on final furlong to lead close home, won at Haydock 1m 3f hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Sept beating Active Asset (9-8) by a hd, 16 ran.
Russian Consort (IRE) 10-1 (9-1) Pulled hard, chased leader, ridden over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 5th of 9, 4l behind Group Captain (9-2) at Newmarket 1m 2f hcp 0-95 (3) gd in Jul.
Prince Nureyev (IRE) 33-1 (9-1) Held up, headway 2f out, effort over 1f out, no extra final furlong, 4th of 11, 3l behind I Have Dreamed (9-1) at Kempton 1m 3f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Mar.
Instructor 33-1 (8-11) Chased leaders, weakened over 3f out, 12th of 17, 27l behind Kinsya (9-2) at York 1m 1f hcap (4) sft in Oct.
Dafarabad (IRE) 6-4fav (9-12) Mid-division, 11th under 4f out, ridden to go moderate 5th and wide into straight, kept on without threatening to go 4th inside final furlong, 4th of 15, 8l behind Noend (9-6) at Galway 1m 4f hcp 0-90 gf in Jul '05.
Great View (IRE) 11-2 (11-7) Led for 3f, tracked leader after, lost place halfway, weakened rapidly, 10th of 12, 21l behind Zalkani (10-4) at Lingfield 1m 4f amt hcp (5) pol in Nov.
Masterofthecourt (USA) 5-1 (9-4) Held up in 5th, pushed along 3f out, outpaced over 1f out, 7th of 8, 9l behind Cool Customer (9-5) at Windsor 1m 4f 3yo hcp (4) gf in Jul.
Cruise Director 28-1 (9-9) Mid-division, ridden and lost place 3f out, weakened rapidly, 11th of 12, 42l behind Stoop To Conquer (9-4) at Newbury 1m 5f hcp 0-90 (3) gd in Aug.
