led, raced freely, ridden and headed over 1f out, kept on same pace
tracked leader, ridden to challenge over 1f out, stayed on
held up in 3rd, ridden to challenge over 1f out, soon every chance, unable to quicken
steadied start, held up in rear, headway over 2f out, led over 1f out, driven out
This race has cut up considerably since the last declaration stage. With only four runners it will no doubt become a tactical affair and TEAMtalk preference is given to Tumbleweed Ridge who ran creditably on his belated reappearance at Goodwood recently. Rated 115 at his peak he has the proven form on this surface and has won in small fields on a number of occasions. Both Lunar Leo and Polar Ben hold entries in a valuable handicap at Ascot at the weekend and this could be no more than a public warm up for them. The latter ran well when favourite for a Newmarket handicap last month but he seems the type who prefers a bit of cut in the ground. The former holds Palanzo on their run at Chester last month but that was a slowly run affair so expect Peter Harris's charge to be closer this time.