slowly into stride, behind, effort towards inside over 2f out, soon ridden and no impression
settled rear, steady headway on wide outside from 3f out, chased winner 2f out, no impression
made all, pushed clear and in no danger final 2f, stayed on strongly, unchallenged
chased winner, ridden 3f out, lost 2nd 2f out, weakened
in touch, headway 2f out, stayed on to take modest 3rd approaching final furlong, no chance
tracked leaders on inner, ridden 3f out, soon outpaced
Ground Rules may be up to the task on his debut against fellow newcomers Almanshood and Spill A Little. With only Melrose Avenue having seen the racecourse before, this is not a race to approach with confidence, but Ground Rules has by all account been working well enough on the Faringdon Road to be worth a small investment. The son of Boundary does not impress on breeding but it is what he does on the track that counts and the Barry Hills inmate is selected. Almanshood holds a Derby entry and as his trainer won the Coventry Stakes with Iceman, we can assume that this fellow will be fairly useful at least. Mick Channon normally has at least one juvenile that bursts onto the scene but Spill A Little will need further to be seen to best effect. Melrose Avenue shaped well enough when fifth over the course and distance on his debut but comes up against some potentially useful opponents here, and we return to Ground Rules to go in first time.
