made all, drven clear over 3f out, ridden out
steadied start, held up, in rear, headway over 4f out, chased winner over 2f out, weakened final furlong
steadied start, took keen hold, held up, in touch, under pressure over 5f out, soon beaten and eased
tracked winner, lost place over 4f out, eased 3f out
tracked leaders, pushed along over 6f out, outpaced over 3f out, rallied and headway over 1f out, stayed on final furlong, no chance with winner
The short-list comprises MY MATE MAL, Friends Hope and Jazrawy with the good form of the Ellison yard swinging the vote in favour of My Mate Mal. He ran out a ready winner of a course and distance seller from Jazrawy last time out to gain his first success on an artificial surface and he may be able to go on from there now that he has got his head in front. The promising Barry McHugh keeps the ride and he appeared to win with something in hand which will need to be the case as the runner-up is 6lbs better off for three and a half lengths before claims are taken into account. Friends Hope had My Mate Mal behind when winning a course claimer over 11 furlongs and has the beating of him on that evidence but we're going to take the chance that she's going to fail to build on that performance. The other three contenders all have plenty to prove in the context of this race as we look to My Mate Mal.
My Mate Mal 7-2 (8-9) Made all, clear from over 3f out, driven out, won at Southwell 1m 4f sell stks (6) fbs beating Jazrawy (8-9) by 3 1/2l, 7 ran.
Friends Hope 14-1 (8-4) Keen, held up, smooth headway to chase leader 2f out, ridden to lead approaching 1f out, ran on, won at Southwell 1m 3f clm stks (5) fbs in Jan beating Boundless Prospect (8-4) by 2l, 6 ran.
Anduril 22-1 (8-4) Held up and keen, headway over 1f out, switched right approaching final furlong, one pace, 6th of 10, 4l behind Fine Tolerance (8-10) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcp 0-50 (7) pol in Jan.
High Treason (USA) 9-2fav (9-9) Steadied start, held up toward rear, effort over 2f out, no impression, 8th of 13, 10l behind Esthlos (9-7) at York 1m 4f app hcp (4) gd in Oct '07.
Itcanbedone Again (IRE) 80-1 (8-0) Tracked leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out, 9th of 13, 15l behind Kirstys Lad (8-2) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (0-55) (6) pol in Jan.
Jazrawy 14-1 (8-9) Tracked winner, ridden over 1f out, kept on final furlong, 2nd of 7, 3 1/2l behind My Mate Mal (8-9) at Southwell 1m 4f sell stks (6) fbs.