chased leaders, outpaced over 3f out, soon ridden, stayed on same pace final 2f
tracked leader, headway to lead over 4f out, ridden and kept on under pressure final 2f
held up, headway over 4f out, ridden and ran on well inside final furlong, not reach winner
slowly into stride, soon prominent, ridden to chase winner over 3f out, kept on one pace
towards rear, driven over 5f out, never able to challenge
chased leaders, headway over 5f out, ridden and effort over 3f out, weakened inside final furlong
soon behind and outpaced, never dangerous
led, ridden and headed over 4f out, soon weakened
chased leaders, pushed along and lost place halfway, soon behind
A difficult race to unravel and a literal reading of the weights does little to help sort out the short list in order of preference. Herne Bay was badly outpaced when tried over 10 furlongs on the Polytrack at Lingfield last month. But he was just getting going as they entered the final half-furlong and that run can be forgiven. He does however, meet Mucky Business on 5lb worse terms this time around and will need every yard of the trip to reverse the form. Iron Warrior is another who is favoured by the terms of today's race and he would not need to find too much to improve past his Mark Johnston-trained opponent. The Lear Fan colt also improved for the step up in trip when he was last seen out and his 8lb pull with the top-weight swings the balance in his favour today. This is a much tougher race than the seller Dubai Dreams won over a mile here last November. And his overall profile does not make him one to trust for a place. So Port Moreno is favoured as an alternative to Iron Warrior for each way backers.
