soon in rear, ran in snatches, wide and headway over 1f out, stayed on final furlong, nearest finish
towards rear, pushed along 3f out, weakened 2f out
made all, ridden over 1f out, ran on
keen early, tracked winner, pushed along 2f out, ridden and unable to quicken inside final furlong
dwelt, soon pushed along and headway to track leaders after 2f, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
in touch, pushed along 3f out, ridden 2f out, soon weakened
raced wide keen, in touch, ridden and headway 2f out, kept on one pace
raced wide keen, close up, ridden 2f out, weakened final furlong
raced wide, keen tracked leaders, lost place 6f out, pushed along 4f out, weakened 2f out
Three of these were winners last time but one of the trio, Illuminated, is having a first run on Turf. Al Qareem and Benedict Wildes have also been kept to the all-weather so far. Neat And Dandy and Signorina Merisi are more exposed than most and State Legend has run six times, though is on a hat-trick. Persian Royal has been gelded since a beaten favourite at Chelmsford in September but Speycaster won at that track in November and makes some appeal. We’ll take a chance on MR BIG STUFF with Hollie Doyle booked for the Iffraaj colt’s reappearance. He ran his best race last season here in November when the going was testing and there is plenty of stamina on his dam’s side.
Speycaster 11-4 (9-2) Led early, tracked leaders, pushed along over 1f out, ridden and stayed to lead final strides, won at Chelmsford City 1m stks (4) pol in Nov beating Deauville Legend (9-2) by 1/2l, 10 ran.
Neat And Dandy (IRE) 7-1 (9-2) Raced wide in touch, pushed along 4f out, ridden over 1f out, stayed on towards finish, 3rd of 6, 4l behind Subjective Value (8-5) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (3) pol in Feb.
Al Qareem (IRE) 15-8 (9-5) Raced wide disputed 2nd, slightly outpaced entering final 2f, ridden and ran on close home, 2nd of 4, 1 1/4l behind Nasim (9-2) at Southwell 1m hcp (4) pol in Mar.
Mr Big Stuff 4-1 (9-2) Tracked winner, ridden over 1f out, kept on one pace, 2nd of 5, 1 1/2l behind Yonafis (9-8) at Chelmsford City 1m stks (3) pol in Dec.
State Legend (IRE) 8-11fav (9-7) Tracked leaders, pushed along and headway over 1f out, ridden and every chance inside final furlong, led towards finish, won at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp (5) pol in Feb beating Already Gone (9-1) by 1/2l, 5 ran.
Illuminated 9-4 (9-5) Close up, pushed along over 3f out, wide and headway approaching final furlong, ridden and stayed on to lead towards finish, won at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (5) pol in Mar beating Government (9-9) by 3/4l, 6 ran.
Signorina Merisi 3-1 (9-4) Chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, kept on one pace, 4th of 6, 2 1/2l behind My Silent Song (9-1) at Pontefract 1m fll (4) gf in Sep.
Persian Royal 5-4fav (9-5) Chased leaders out wide, ridden and one pace in 3rd over 1f out, no chance with leading duo, 3rd of 9, 3l behind Arclight (9-0) at Chelmsford City 1m mdn stks (6) pol in Sep.
Benedict Wildes (IRE) 16-1 (9-2) In touch, pushed along over 2f out, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on towards, 3rd of 8, 4 1/2l behind Zain Sarinda (9-9) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f stks (5) pol in Mar.