restless in stalls, slowly into stride, held up, pushed along over 3f out, some headway over 2f out, no impression, soon weakened
held up in touch, effort 3f out, no impression 2f out, weakened
led, ridden over 2f out, headed 1f out, no extra towards finish
soon towards rear, headway 3f out, went 4th from 2f out, no impression on leaders, stayed on same pace
tracked leader early, chased leaders, pushed along 4f out, outpaced 3f out, weakened over 2f out
soon prominent, ridden over 2f out, led 1f out, headed close home
held up towards rear, shaken up 4f out, some headway from 2f out, never on terms
in rear, shaken up over 3f out, modest progress final 2f out, no impression
soon handy, pushed along over 3f out, unable to quicken over 1f out, picked up well inside final furlong, stayed on to lead close home
STRATUM was an eye-catcher on his debut in a back-end maiden at Newmarket. He ran green but was still beaten less than three lengths at the finish and will have benefited from another winter. John Gosden won this in 2014 and his Dansili colt can improve past the more-exposed Able Jack, though the latter wasn't disgraced in a valuable sales event on his final start in October and should find a race this year. Arithmetic hasn’t been seen since disappointing at Newmarket in August but he should do better this season while Finelcity was third at Salisbury in October, though sports blinkers so may not be entirely straightforward. The Graduate was sold for 100,000gns but needs to improve on what he's shown so far.
Able Jack 66-1 (9-3) Tracked winner 2f, close up, weakened over 1f out, 7th of 14, 10 1/4l behind Gifted Master (9-3) at Newmarket 7f (2) gf in Oct.
Arithmetic (IRE) 12-1 (9-5) Led, headed over 1f out, soon ridden, weakened final furlong, 7th of 11, 8 3/4l behind Venturous (9-5) at Newmarket 6f mdn stks (4) gd in Aug.
Finelcity (GER) 25-1 (8-12) In touch, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, 3rd of 9, 1 1/2l behind Kismet Hardy (9-0) at Salisbury 7f mdn stks (5) sft in Oct.
High Draw (FR) Falco gelding out of Augusta Lucilla.
Pure Soul 33-1 (9-5) Slowly into stride, outpaced in rear, never on terms, 11th of 14, 13 3/4l behind Captain Dion (9-5) at Redcar 6f mdn stks (5) sft in Oct.
Stratum 14-1 (9-0) Towards rear far side, ridden 2f out, never nearer, 8th of 13, 2 1/2l behind Chelsea Lad (9-0) at Newmarket 7f mdn stks (4) gs in Oct.
Swansway 4-1 (9-5) Close up centre, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 4th of 8, 14 1/2l behind Scrutineer (9-5) at Nottingham 6f mdn stks (5) sft in Oct.
The Graduate (IRE) 6-1 (9-5) Slow into stride soon close up, ridden 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong, 8th of 11, 10 1/4l behind Good Trip (9-5) at Nottingham 1m mdn stks (5) sft in Nov.
Angel Grace (IRE) 20-1 (9-0) In touch, ridden 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 6th of 10, 5 1/2l behind Flyweight (9-0) at Chelmsford City 1m mdn fll stks (4) pol in Nov.
Star of Kheleyf 50-1 (9-5) Always behind, 7th of 8, 15 3/4l behind Tawakkol (9-5) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f mdn stks (5) pol in Mar.