held up behind leaders, smooth progress to lead 1f out, pushed out, easily
towards rear, soon chased along, ridden over 2f out, stayed on final furlong
chased leaders, ridden along halfway, weakened final furlong
in touch, led halfway, driven and headed 1f out, kept on same pace
led, headed halfway, driven over 1f out, one pace until weakened inside final furlong
soon outpaced and behing, never a factor
dwelt, soon chasing leaders, ridden along halfway, one pace until weakened inside final furlong
Grimes Faith and Chatshow look to be a class above some of these ordinary performers and our idea of the verdict is with the first named. The former Richard Hannon charge is dropped into this grade after a couple of moderate performances in handicaps but the former miler showed plenty of early pace and this race is so modest that he might just be capable of getting away with it. Chatshow is here without his sometime headgear. Course and distance form always has to be respected at this level. High Reach had shown reasonable form for David Barron but was cast aside from that stable for just 2500 guineas at the recent Doncaster sales. John O'Shea takes up the gauntlet. Mel Brittain had a winner at this course at the weekend so banded class performer, Aboustar, is perhaps one to note at bigger odds if there is any market confidence. Creme Brulee, Spinning Game and Time Share have had plenty of chances to show the handicapper their hand and they appear hard to recommend on the balance of probablilities. Grimes Faith has an obvious question to answer about the return to sprinting but he will encounter few affairs as bad as this in the calendar.
Grimes Faith 16-1 (9-4) Led, ridden and headed well over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 8th of 9, 11l behind Mr Lambros (9-4) at W'hampton 6f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Dec.
Chatshow (USA) 6-1 (9-3) Chased leaders, pushed along halfway, ridden and beaten well over 1f out, last of 4, 4 1/2l behind Compton Classic (8-13) at W'hampton 5f clm (6) pol.
Aboustar 80-1 (8-10) Led, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened final furlong, 6th of 9, 9l behind Dickie Le Davoir (9-0) at Southwell 6f clm (6) fbs.
High Reach 9-1 (8-7) Soon led, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened final furlong, 7th of 10, 8l behind Memphis Man (8-7) at W'hampton 6f app hcp (6) pol in Nov.
Creme Brulee 16-1 (8-3) Led over 3f, ridden and kept on, 3rd of 12, 2l behind Is It Time (8-10) at Southwell 5f hcp 0-50 (6) fbs in Dec.
Spinning Game 28-1 (8-3) Slowly into stride, always behind, 9th of 11, 16l behind Calloff The Search (8-8) at W'hampton 6f hcp 0-50 (6) pol.
Time Share (IRE) 14-1 (8-6) Held up behind, ridden over 2f out, some headway over 1f out, never dangerous, 7th of 11, 8l behind Mind Alert (8-9) at Southwell 6f hcp 0-50 (6) std.