tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, stayed on one pace
in touch, ridden, 3f out, no impression after
always towards rear
tracked leader, lead over 1f out, soon clear, easily
led, ridden and headed over 1f out, no extra final furlong
always behind
Mark Johnston runs both Mu'Ajiza, who ran quite well in a better race than this here last time, and Tussie Mussie, who has lost her form after a decent start to the campaign. Lyric Piece has an all-weather pedigree and has raced exclusively on an artificial surface to date so how she will handle today's conditions is an unknown factor. Naaz will have no problems with the surface having gained his only success on good to soft ground at Redcar. He went up 8lb for that which looked a bit harsh and he's struggled a bit subsequently. CORREGGIO had only two opponents at Pontefract but was the outsider of the trio despite a strong performance on his previous start. He belied his odds with a very impressive victory and a 7lb rise doesn't look enough to prevent a follow-up. Neither Gioia Di Vita nor Lexington Blue can be discounted in what looks a tight handicap.
Gioia Di Vita 7-1 (9-7) Held up in 5th, tracked leaders when denied clear run 2f out to 1f out, driven inside final furlong, unable to challenge, 7th of 8, 7l behind Mash Potato (8-6) at Newcastle 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-75 (5) gs.
Naaz 9-2 (9-5) Held up in 6th, headway on outside over 1f out, led 1f out, soon ridden, headed well inside final furlong, no extra in 3rd final 50 yards, 3rd of 8, 2l behind Mash Potato (8-6) at Newcastle 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-75 (5) gs.
Correggio 12-1 (8-6) Tracked leaders, pushed along 4f out, effort over 1f out, soon led, edged right and ran on, won at Pontefract 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-85 (4) gd beating Buchanan (9-7) by 5l, 3 ran.
Lyric Piece 5-1 (9-4) Ran in snatches, tracked leading pair, pushed along briefly 7f out, ridden 4f out, went 2nd over 2f out, ridden and no impression over 1f out, weakened and lost 2nd inside final furlong, dropped to 4th last 50 yards, 4th of 7, 7l behind Strawberry Jam (9-2) at Kempton 1m 3f Apprentice Handicap (0-80) (3yo) (4) pol.
Tussie Mussie 12-1 (8-11) Tracked leader, led over 8f out, pushed along 3f out, edged left and headed 2f out, soon lost 2nd, weakened over 1f out, 5th of 7, 7l behind Nemushka (9-10) at Ripon 1m 2f flls hcp 0-80 (4) gd.
Lexington Blue 7-1 (8-13) Slowly into stride, held up in rear, ridden and headway over 2f out, edged left over 1f out, stayed on same pace, 4th of 9, 7l behind Argaki (9-3) at Musselburgh 1m 3yo hcp 0-75 (5) gd.
Mu'ajiza 12-1 (8-6) Tracked winner until over 2f out, no impression when dropped to 4th close home, 4th of 16, 4 1/2l behind Robert The Painter (9-13) at Ripon 1m hcp 0-90 (3) gd.
