chased leaders, smooth progress on outside over 3f out, led over 2f out, ridden clear inside final furlong, ran on strongly
prominent, led after 1f, headed over 2f out, wandered under pressure over 1f out, faded final furlong
outpaced in rear, headway over 1f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, nearest finish
led 1f, remained prominent, every chance over 2f out, kept on same pace approaching final furlong
slowly into stride, outpaced in rear, always behind
prominent, hard driven halfway, weakened well over 2f out
outpaced in rear, some late headway approaching final furlong, never nearer
with leaders, lost place over 3f out
slowly into stride, under pressure over 4f out, soon weakened
SHOOTINGSTA (NAP) has been threatening to get his head back in front and found only one too good in this grade over track and trip last time. He makes more appeal than Tiger's Home, who is now 15lb higher than when landing a double here in November. Assault On Rome looks a bigger threat if taking to the Fibresand as he scored at Wolverhampton last time and remains on a winning mark and the lightly-raced maiden winner Golden Highway is worth noting in the betting on his first visit to this venue. Alpha Tauri has done all his winning so far on this surface but all eight victories came in a lower grade than this.
Zaeem 6-1 (9-3) Keen tracked leader, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed and no extra inside final furlong, 5th of 7, 4 3/4l behind Elusive Guest (9-6) at Chelmsford City 1m hcp (4) pol in Dec.
Shootingsta (IRE) 9-1 (9-1) Led, headed 2f out, kept on, 2nd of 11, 2 1/4l behind Philba (8-10) at Southwell 7f hcp (4) pol in Dec.
Assault On Rome (IRE) 7-1 (9-7) Tracked leaders, ridden over 1f out, kept on and not much room well inside final furlong, just held post, awarded race, 2nd of 12, shd behind Jimmy's Hall (9-5) at Wolverhampton 7f hcp (5) pol in Dec.
Captain Revelation 33-1 (8-13) Mid-division, headway to chase leaders over 2f out, weakened entering final furlong, 8th of 10, 6 1/2l behind Librisa Breeze (9-6) at Kempton 1m hcp (4) pol in Sep.
Golden Highway (USA) 50-1 (8-13) Slowly into stride, held up in rear, under pressure over 4f out, soon beaten, eased over 1f out, last of 12, dist behind Sarsted (9-3) at Chelmsford City 1m 2f hcp (4) pol in Jul.
Alpha Tauri (USA) 17-2 (8-10) Led, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 5th of 8, 2 3/4l behind Boomerang Bob (9-3) at Southwell 6f stks (6) pol in Dec.
Queen Aggie (IRE) 16-1 (9-2) Behind, headway when not clear run over 1f out, switched right, stayed on well, 6th of 12, 2 1/2l behind Age Of Innocence (8-11) at Southwell 6f hcp (5) pol in Dec.
Curzon Line 14-1 (8-8) Held up towards rear and keen, never a factor, last of 11, 20 1/2l behind Philba (8-10) at Southwell 7f hcp (4) pol in Dec.
Tiger's Home 11-4 (8-10) Led 1f, remained prominent, driven to challenge well over 1f out, kept on same pace, 2nd of 6, 6l behind Capelita (9-7) at Southwell 1m hcp fll (5) pol in Dec.