chased leaders, effort over 4f out, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
chased leaders, went 2nd over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
always behind, pulled up 6f out
chased winner until ridden over 3f out, one pace
Withdrawn
American Art, Commander Cave and Cobo Bay are the trio for the shortlist and we will nominate American Art to land the spolis. The selection won well when beating Smoking Rye last time out and the manner of that success certainly marked him down as one to stay on the right side of. Commander Cave is a lightly-raced colt and he won well when last seen out beating Totally Focussed. He makes his turf debut today and he has to be respected, although he will probably need to find a bit of improvement if he is to land this. Cobo Bay won a nursery in good style last time and he will relish these ground conditions, so he is another worthy of respect. Albaqaa arrives here in good form but Richard Fahey's 3-year-old does face a tougher assignement today, and we will stick with American Art to take the prize.
Cobo Bay 14-1 (9-6) Made all, ridden 3f out, driven clear over 1f out, kept on well, won at Ayr 1m 2yo hcp 0-95 (2) gs in Sept beating Daring Dream (8-6) by 2l, 13 ran.
Robby Bobby 2-1fav (9-3) Made all, ridden clear over 1f out, pushed out, comfortably, won at Newbury 1m 2yo mdn (4) gs in Oct beating Brexca (9-3) by 3l, 13 ran.
Upton Grey (IRE) 8-1 (9-5) Raced centre, held up, pushed along and headway over 2f out, chased leaders over 1f out, stayed on same pace, 3rd of 15, 4l behind Kal Barg (8-10) at Doncaster 7f 2yo hcp (2) gd in Oct.
Runswick Bay 10-1 (8-8) Led far side group and overall leader until over 5f out, remained prominent, weakened over 1f out, 7th of 12, 3 1/2l behind Dan Tucket (8-7) at Newmarket 7f 2yo hcp (2) sft in Aug.
Albaqaa 6-1 (8-9) In touch, smooth headway 4f out, led over 2f out, edged right approaching final furlong, soon clear, won at Redcar 1m 1f mdn stk (5) gs in Mar beating Tajweed (8-9) by 4l, 13 ran.
Ivestar (IRE) 13-8 (8-11) Tracked leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened entering final furlong, 4th of 6, 8l behind Golden Penny (8-8) at Southwell 1m mdn aut stk (5) fbs.
American Art (IRE) 9-4 (9-4) Chased leaders, led over 1f out, quickly drew clear, won at Kempton 7f 3yo hcp (5) pol in Jan beating Smokey Rye (9-4) by 6l, 7 ran.
Commander Cave (USA) 15-2 (9-7) Made all, quickened over 1f out, kept on, won at Kempton 1m 3yo hcp (4) pol beating Totally Focussed (8-9) by 2l, 9 ran.