held up, ridden and headway over 3f out, stayed on to go 2nd close home
held up, ridden and headway 2f out, staying on when not clear run towards finish
mid-division, ridden and headway 3f out, no extra final furlong
chased leader to over 5f out, ridden 3f out, weakened final furlong
led, ridden and headed over 1f out, no extra towards finish
always toward rear
chased leaders, went 2nd over 5f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, driven out
behind, kept on final furlong, never dangerous
in touch, outpaced 5f out, stayed on final furlong
Jimmy Fortune gets on well with Libre and the partnership look the team to be with in this close-knit handicap. Brief Goodbye and Charmatic are both in good heart and are respected as dangers, Arabie will be a threat if Frankie Dettori can manage to keep him interested from pillar to post. However, he is a law unto himself and the sparkle he showed when with Henry Cecil is a rarely seen these days. Charmatic won well at Pontefract last month and was not unduly punished by the handicapper. This does appear to be a stiffer assignment, though. And he has more to find. Brief Goodbye was a surprise winner at Sandown on his penultimate outing but has subsequently run well in defeat. He looks a solid option to make the frame in this company. However, Libre is far more consistent than most of his rivals and has just the right attitude to rely on in a battle. The string of placed efforts do not tell the whole story about Libre and he is fancied to put the record straight tonight.
Jazz Scene (IRE) 9-2 (9-2) Held up in rear, driven over 4f out, headway 2f out, ridden and stayed on well final furlong, nearest finish, 4th of 8, 1l behind Go Tech (9-7) at Redcar 1m 2f hcp (2) frm in Jun.
Libre 7-2 (9-13) Keen, in touch, ridden over 1f out, not much room inside final furlong, ran on, 2nd of 7, hd behind Meelup (9-0) at Warwick 1m hcp (4) gf in Jun.
Brief Goodbye 9-2 (9-2) Held up, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, one pace final furlong, 3rd of 6, 2l behind Alamiyan (9-0) at Pontefract 1m 2f hcp (3) gf in Jun.
Best Before (IRE) 11-2co-fav (10-2) Held up in rear, headway under pressure over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, nearest finish, 4th of 14, 4l behind Habanero (10-2) at Windsor 1m hcp (5) gf in Jun.
Arabie 7-1 (9-5) Tracked leader, ridden to challenge over 2f out, stayed on same pace, 3rd of 7, 4 1/2l behind Oligarch (9-0) at Nottingham 1m 2f hcp (4) gf in Jun.
Barathea Blue 6-1 (10-0) Pulled hard, prominent, short of room over 4f out, lost place over 3f out, soon eased, last of 10, well behind Snowed Under (9-3) at Leicester 1m 2f hcp (5) gf in Jun.
Charmatic (IRE) 5-1 (9-13) Slowly into stride, held up, headway over 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, kept on under pressure inside final furlong, won at Pontefract 1m fll hcp (5) gf in Jun beating Fairlie (9-8) by a nk, 11 ran.
Karaoke (IRE) 10-1 (9-11) Held up in rear, pushed along halfway, no headway final 2f, 9th of 12, 8l behind Michaels Pride (8-7) at Salisbury 1m 2f hcp (5) gf in Jun.