chased leaders on outside, led well over 3f out, hung left to far rail and narrowly headed over 2f out, rallied under strong pressure to lead again final 100 yards
prominent, pushed along 4f out, soon weakened, eased when no chance final furlong, tailed off
held up in mid-division, smooth headway 4f out, led on bit over 2f out, ridden and hung left from over 1f out, headed final 100 yards, kept on
led, pushed along and headed 4f out, weakened quickly, tailed off
held up towards rear, headway 3f out, went poor 3rd over 2f out, no chance with front pair
slowly away, struggling and always behind
soon pushed along towards rear, never a factor
chased leaders, weakened 2f out
prominent, led 4f out, headed well over 3f out, soon beaten
held up towards rear, headway under pressure 4f out, pushed along 3f out, soon no headway
VIA MIA is best in at the weights in this one mile three furlong seller and should take all the beating if taking to the track leaving Inside Story and Nawamees best placed for minor honours. Despite being the top rated horse in the field the pick is receiving weight from all of her rivals. It's not as though George Baker's filly is out of form either as she stayed about this far when placing at Kempton two starts back and her runner-up performance off a mark of 68 at Wolverhampton recently reads well in the context of this race. Inside Story has a double figure improvement to find according to the official ratings but at least he is proven on the surface having scored on his only previous course and distance start. That and the pick of his handicap form puts him best placed to upset the selection. Nawamees is also up against it at the weights but he too has no problem with this track or trip so can be expected to run his race. Outside this leading trio it's hard to make a case for the others so as long as the surface suits Via Mia should be going in.
Black Falcon (IRE) 100-1 (8-6) Raced wide, in rear, never near leaders, 7th of 11, 23l behind Shadows Lengthen (9-1) at Southwell 1m 3f hcp (0-65) (6) fbs in Dec.
Govenor Eliott (IRE) 25-1 (8-10) Soon pushed along in rear, 10th of 11, 13l behind Diamond Blade (9-1) at Southwell 6f hcp 0-60 (6) fbs in Dec.
Inside Story (IRE) 17-2 (9-3) Mid-division, chased leaders over 2f out, soon one pace, 5th of 11, 2 3/4l behind Shake On It (8-10) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-60 (6) pol.
Intavac Boy 66-1 (8-7) Behind, pushed along 4f out, driven along over 2f out, never a factor, tailed off, 7th of 9, 25l behind Altos Reales (8-8) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Dec.
Jazrawy 14-1 (9-9) Tracked leader, led over 5f out, ridden and headed over 4f out, weakened 3f out, 11th of 14, well behind Sunny Spells (9-4) at Southwell 1m 4f hcp 0-60 (6) fbs in Dec.
Maree Prince (IRE) 16-1 (11-2) Led, ran wide bend after 6f and dropped to rear, headway to 4th 4f out, ridden in 7th 3f out, 5th 2f out, kept on one pace, 5th of 15, 9l behind Alice Bradys Call (11-0) at Killarney 1m 6f mdn stks gd in Aug '08.
Nawamees (IRE) 16-1 (9-6) Disputed lead after 1f, led 4f out, ridden 3f out, headed approaching 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 6th of 15, 9l behind Doubnov (9-6) at Lingfield 1m 4f sell stks (6) pol in Nov.
Bromhead (USA) 12-1 (9-4) Taken to post early, keen, soon led, headed approaching 4f out, ridden and weakened over 2f out, 9th of 11, 22l behind Orthology (8-12) at Yarmouth 1m 2f 3yo & 4yo sll (6) gd in Oct.
If You Knew Suzy 50-1 (8-13) Mid-division, weakened 2f out, soon eased, 10th of 13, 21l behind Dontuwishitwereso (8-6) at Southwell 7f hcp 0-60 (6) fbs.
Via Mia 11-4fav (9-4) Mid-division, ridden and headway over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong, 6th of 10, 10l behind Justcallmehandsome (8-13) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f app hcp 0-70 (5) pol in Dec.
Cragganmore Creek 22-1 (9-11) Tracked leader 3f, remained close up, led over 5f out, ridden, headed 3f out, soon weakened, 12th of 13, 36l behind Court Princess (10-13) at Lingfield 2m Amateur Handicap (0-60) (3yo+) (6) pol in Dec.
