led, ridden and headed over 3f out, outpaced by leading pair 2f out, lost 2 places inside final furlong
in touch, headway to chase leading pair over 3f out, ridden to chase winner over 2f out, no impression
dwelt in touch, ridden halfway, struggling from over 3f out
pressed leader until led over 3f out, clear over 2f out, ridden out
went right start, always towards rear
dwelt keen held up, ridden halfway, kept on to go remote 4th inside final furlong
chased leading pair until ridden over 3f out, kept on to go remote 3rd inside final furlong
This can go to STAND GUARD who landed a touch in a handicap over 1m4f here on his latest start and should have no problem following up in this company with a similar effort. Trans Sonic looks the main danger, despite a couple of poor recent efforts over shorter trips here, as he's a C&D winner and is fancied to reverse recent running with River Ardeche. Today's weights give Irish raider Clara Zetkin every chance if she can run up to her mark but the rest of the field have no easy task on today's terms and are hard to fancy as a consequence.
River Ardeche 14-1 (9-4) Led, hard pressed over 1f out, ridden and headed inside final furlong, no extra close home, 2nd of 4, 1l behind McConnell (9-4) at Southwell 1m sell stks (6) fbs in Feb.
Stand Guard 5-2 (9-6) In touch, improved to track leader 4f out, led over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, edged right final furlong, won at Southwell 1m 4f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs in Feb beating Tricksofthetrade (9-7) by 1 1/2l, 7 ran.
Brave Enough (USA) 80-1 (8-5) Tracked leaders, ridden over 4f out, weakened 2f out, 7th of 11, 14l behind Dream Catcher (9-7) at Wolverhampton 2m hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Dec.
Trans Sonic 1-2fav (8-12) Chased leader, hard ridden halfway, switched left and effort over 1f out, soon no impression, 3rd of 4, 6l behind McConnell (9-4) at Southwell 1m sell stks (6) fbs in Feb.
Liver Bird (8-10) last of 6, 18l behind Litigant (8-13) at Maisons-laffitte(FR) 1m 6f stk gd in Jul.
Clara Zetkin 33-1 (9-6) Always behind, last of 11, 13l behind Farmleigh House (9-8) at Dundalk 6f hcap pol in Jan.
Norton Girl 14-1 (8-10) Held up in rear, headway over 1f out, never nearer, 6th of 14, 11l behind Monte Cassino (9-1) at Southwell 7f hcp 0-52 (6) fbs in Jan.