slowly into stride, behind and soon pushed along, headway over 3f out, chased leaders over 2f out, led inside final furlong, just held on
prominent, led over 3f out, headed over 2f out, soon weakened
led until over 3f out, led again over 2f out, soon ridden, headed inside final furlong, weakened
slowly into stride, behind, headway over 2f out, hard ridden and every chance just inside final furlong, ran on just failed
slowly into stride, soon prominent, under pressure and weakened halfway
held up in rear, ridden halfway soon beaten
held up in touch, hard ridden to challenge over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
chased leaders, outpaced halfway, headway approaching final furlong, stayed on well close home
Noel Wilson's UNITED NATIONS has not always been the easiest to win with but was in good form here this time last year and he looks worth siding with on his first start since March as he can race off just a 3lb higher mark than when landing a handicap over course and distance in January with the main dangers rated as Davana and Celtic Step. Peter Niven's gelding has run well in his last two starts but has yet to win on the Fibresand and he may have to settle for minor honours again. Ten Pole Tudor won well at Wolverhampton in a seller two starts ago but disappointed either side of that and a bigger threat is likely to come from Jonnie Skull. Phil McEntee's gelding was a good winner here over seven furlongs last time and should not be inconvenienced by the extra furlong today so has to be considered. Davana is closely matched with Ten Pole Tudor on running at Wolverhampton last month and has to be considered on his Fibresand debut but a better bet looks to be United Nations, who can win here again.
Ten Pole Tudor 12-1 (8-11) Held up, ridden and raced wide over 2f out, soon weakened, 11th of 13, 10l behind Head First (8-9) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (6) pol in Nov.
United Nations 7-2 (8-9) Tracked leaders, tracked winner well over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, every chance over 1f out, soon outpaced by winner inside final furlong and eased, 2nd of 3, 8l behind Boscage (9-4) at Southwell 1m hcp 0-85 (4) fbs in Mar.
Jonnie Skull (IRE) 10-1 (9-3) Led, ridden over 2f out, joined and driven over 1f out, headed narrowly inside final furlong, rallied to lead final strides, won at Southwell 7f hcp 0-60 (6) fbs beating Zeffirelli (8-7) by hd, 14 ran.
Celtic Step 8-1 (8-2) In touch, ridden over 2f out, chased winner briefly well over 1f out, edged left and one pace inside final furlong, 3rd of 9, 3 1/2l behind Clear Sailing (8-4) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f clm stks 0-70 (5) pol.
Chinese Profit 33-1 (8-3) Always in rear, 12th of 13, 23l behind Balata (9-8) at Leicester 7f hcp 0-70 (5) gf in Sep.
Fiveonthreeforjd 33-1 (9-0) Dwelt and always rear division, 12th of 15, 42l behind Eton Rifles (9-3) at Catterick 7f 3yo & 4yo mdn (5) gs in Sep '08.
Tango Step (IRE) 16-1 (7-11) Always in rear, 8th of 10, 13l behind Lithaam (9-1) at Wolverhampton 5f hcp 0-70 (5) pol in Oct.
Davana 16-1 (8-3) Led to 4f out, lost place over 2f out, rallied over 1f out, stayed on into 3rd inside final furlong, 3rd of 11, 2 3/4l behind Ten Pole Tudor (9-0) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f sell stks (6) pol in Nov.