always behind
held up mid-division, ridden 4f out, soon beaten
held up, headway 4f out, led 2f out, ridden and headed inside final furlong, ran on gamely to lead again close home
held up in touch, ridden to lead over 2f out, soon headed, no extra final furlong
always prominent, ridden over 3f out, slightly outpaced over 2f out, kept on one pace under pressure
in touch until ridden and lost place 8f
led, headed 8f out, ridden and weakened over 3f out
close up, led 8f out, ridden and headed over 2f out, every chance over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
steadied start, held up, headway over 3f out, switched right over 1f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, headed and not quicken close home
close up, ridden over 4f out, weakened 3f out
A tough finale in which very few can be dismissed lightly. Sir Mark Prescott's Parachute still looked green when beaten on his first start over this trip on Tuesday and, while there is undoubtedly improvement to come, it is asking a lot of the son of Hector Protector to find enough to win this better contest. Turtle Valley is an infrequent runner on the all-weather and makes only his second appearance on the Fibresand (well beaten on first) so it will be a surprise if he is good enough. Lingfield maiden winner San Marco has more on his plate here, while both Dick The Taxi and Michaels Dream have been off the track for a couple of months and may be in need of the outing. Glory Quest has claims on the form shown when winning at Wolverhampton last month but Gay Kelleway's gelding was disappointing when a well beaten fourth in the controversial race won by Mr Gisby on Saturday. Our selection then is Bhutan. Bought out of Mary Reveley's stable after finishing second in a Fontwell selling hurdle, the son of Polish Patriot lost little in defeat on his first start on the all-weather for Karl Burke when beaten a neck by Interstice in an amateur riders' handicap. Off the same mark here, he is entitled to be thereabouts.
