missed break, soon pushed along in rear, headway under pressure 1f out, kept on final furlong
slowly into stride, towards rear never dangerous
led, headed over 1f out, hung left and one-paced final furlong
close up, effort 2f out weakened final furlong
chased leaders, ridden halfway, one paced under pressure
tracked leaders, headway to lead over 1f out, ridden out.
Although the testing ground is going to be a major factor here with these newcomers, Spirit of France hails from a top yard and may be good enough at the first time of asking, with Elsie Hart worth noting as well. Spirit of France, as the name suggests, is Gallic-bred on the dam's side, and will be moved up in trip eventually. It is to be hoped that he already possesses a bit of stamina as he will need it to plough the heavy going here. Mark Johnston generally introduces a nice type at Newcastle as they can stride out in the straight, and Spirit of France may be no exception. Elsie Hart is a full-sister to Magic Myth and a half-sister to Flanders, so should be useful enough. She is entered for Newbury's Watership Down Stud Sales race in September and hopefully will have opened her account by then. George Duffield is still on a mission to ride the 60-odd winners needed to beat Edward Hide's career total and you can be sure that anything that he partners will receive the utmost help in the saddle. His wife's Uredale therefore makes most appeal of the rest, but Spirit of France is taken to make a winning start.
