made all, ridden and hard pressed from over 1f out, stayed on gamely final furlong
tracked leaders, headway to challenge over 2f out, kept on and every chance until held and no extra towards finish
tracked leaders, driven and lost place over 3f out, soon ridden and beaten
tracked winner, challenged over 3f out to over 2f out, ridden and weakened approaching final furlong
held up, ridden and outpaced over 2f out, never on terms
held up, headway to chase leaders over 2f out, switched left and effort over 1f out, ridden and kept on same pace final furlong
The feature of the day at Ripon is a tricky one for punters to sort out and Jabal Tariq can make it a third course win, while the others all have something in their favour. The selection broke his maiden over 10f here in April and after a Newbury handicap defeat he came good again back here over c&d last time. He handles good and soft ground and the way he won last time suggests that he's capable of defying a 7lb rise. Downhiller seems to handle any ground and won over this trip at Newbury last time. A 5lb rise here should also see him remain highly competitive. Laterly is up 6lb for a really good effort in a similarly valuable Haydock handicap and all ground comes the same to him, so he is not dismissed lightly. Detonator is the potential big improver here. He went well at Pontefract last month and the step up in trip should suit, though he'd ideally want it fast underfoot. The Oil Magnate and Celt both come here on the back of good runs and in truth it would be no surprise to see any of these win but we must pick one and that one is Jabal Tariq.
Laterly (IRE) 25-1 (8-11) Led, ridden over 1f out, headed towards finish, 2nd of 10, 1l behind Inventor (8-10) at Haydock 1m 4f 3yo hcp (2) gd.
Detonator (IRE) 12-1 (8-13) Soon led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, soon edged right, no extra towards finish, 3rd of 9, 1 1/2l behind Envisage (9-10) at Pontefract 1m 2f hcp 0-90 (3) gf in Jun.
Downhiller (IRE) 12-1 (9-7) Led and set good pace, ridden 2f out, stayed on gamely final furlong, edge right close home, driven out, won at Newbury 1m 4f 3yo hcp (4) gf beating First Avenue (9-5) by 1 1/2l, 7 ran.
Jabal Tariq Evensfav (9-7) Tracked leader, led over 4f out, soon clear, eased towards finish, unchallenged, won at Ripon 1m 4f 3yo hcp (4) sft in Jun beating Smarterthanuthink (8-10) by 4 1/2l, 4 ran.
The Oil Magnate 14-1 (9-0) Held up in rear, ridden over 2f out, ran on final furlong, no chance with winner, 2nd of 8, 1 1/2l behind Boz (9-13) at Doncaster 1m 4f hcp 0-80 (4) gd.
Celt 7-4fav (9-7) Tracked leaders, effort to chase winner and every chance 1f out, unable to quicken towards finish, 2nd of 11, 1l behind Excape (9-7) at Newmarket 1m 4f 3yo hcp (4) gf in Jun.
