tracked leaders, ridden and edged left 2f out, soon beaten
pressed winner, led over 4f out, ridden and headed 2f out, stayed on same pace
led over 1f, pressed leader, led 2f out, readily
awkward leaving stalls and rider lost iron 4 1f, held up in 4th, headway over 2f out, soon ridden, no extra inside final furlong
Mark Johnston seems to have a grip on this six furlong handicap with his Bowmaker and LOVE DELTA both with outstanding chances but we just prefer the latter after his winning handicap debut; Maldon Prom looks the next best. Bowmaker is well bred from powerful connections and did score very impressively on his debut over course and distance. He should come on for that run but he's difficult to assess first time up in a handicap so we¿ll see how he goes this time. That decision leaves us with Love Delta as the pick who definitely should go well off his revised mark after scoring well on his handicap and Southwell debut last time; his front running tactics are perfect for this venue. Maldon Prom is given a chance after capping a progressive run of form, which included a good run here, with victory at Wolverhampton last time. His six pound mark rise for that though might just be telling. Italian Tom should be seen in a better light with six pounds removed from his back while R Woody is closely matched with Maldon Prom on their meeting in a maiden so can¿t be ruled out completely. This race should go to Mark Johnston and out of his duo we just side with Love Delta.
Italian Tom (IRE) 2-1 (9-13) Soon pushed along to chase leaders, ridden halfway, weakened final furlong, 4th of 6, 7l behind Lucky Mellor (9-7) at Southwell 5f 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) fbs in Dec.
Coolree Star (IRE) 10-3 (9-7) Raced wide, disputed 2nd, ridden over 2f out, weakened entering final furlong, last of 7, 7l behind Sabatini (9-5) at Lingfield 6f 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Dec.
Love Delta (USA) 5-2 (9-4) Made virtually all, driven over 1f out, ridden and stayed on final furlong, won at Southwell 6f 3yo hcp 0-75 (5) fbs beating Sweet Child O'mine (8-11) by 1 3/4l, 4 ran.
Maldon Prom (IRE) 8-1 (7-11) Made all, came wide into straight, ridden over 1f out, clear final furlong, ran on well, won at Wolverhampton 6f 2yo hcp 0-90 (4) pol in Dec beating Sabatini (8-11) by 1 1/2l, 5 ran.
Bowmaker 11-4 (8-12) Chased leaders, led 2f out, pushed well clear final furlong easily, won at Southwell 6f 2yo mdn auc stks (5) fbs in Oct beating Clear Ice (8-10) by 7l, 7 ran.
R Woody 8-1 (9-5) Prominent, not clear run just over 1f out, kept on towards finish, 4th of 10, 2 1/2l behind Wanchai Whisper (8-7) at Kempton 5f 2yo hco 0-75 (5) pol in Dec.
