in touch in rear, headway to chase leading pair 3f out, soon ridden, weakened over 1f out
led, ridden over 2f out, headed over 1f out, kept on one pace
tracked leaders, pushed along to chase leader 3f out, led over 1f out, ridden and ran on
slowly away, in touch in rear, ridden over 3f out, kept on to go remote 4th close home
tracked leader, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
raced wide in touch in rear, ridden over 3f out, effort to chase leading pair over 1f out, kept on same pace
D'Urberville ended 2010 with a double over C&D but has shown little in a couple of starts here since returning from his lengthy absence. St Oswald has failed to figure since scoring over 7f at this track and remains 5lb higher than when last winning, while General Tufto was well beaten off today's mark last time having won here last month. Turf winners Reason To Believe and Thatcherite make their Fibresand debuts and ROCK ANTHEM hasn't raced at this track for a while. The latter's record on this surface is a win and two seconds from five starts, however, so Mike Murphy's charge gets the nod as he returns on a winning mark.
Thatcherite (IRE) 9-1 (9-4) Held up towards rear, ridden over 1f out, one pace, 6th of 11, 8l behind Green Howard (9-7) at Redcar 7f 3yo hcp 0-75 (5) gd in Nov.
D'urberville 3-1 (9-7) Raced wide close up, ridden 3f out, weakened over 1f out, last of 5, 18l behind Pipers Piping (8-9) at Southwell 1m hacp 0-70 (5) fbs.
St Oswald 7-1 (9-4) Raced wide in touch, effort over 1f out, kept on same pace, 3rd of 7, 4 1/2l behind Imprimis Tagula (8-12) at Southwell 7f sell stks (6) fbs.
Rock Anthem (IRE) 5-1 (9-6) Tracked leaders, effort over 2f out, bumped well over 1f out, weakened inside final fuflong, 6th of 12, 9l behind Qeethaara (8-11) at Kempton 1m app hcp 0-65 (6) pol in Jan.
Reason To Believe (IRE) 14-1 (9-4) Held up, always towards rear, last of 13, 10l behind Valley Tiger (8-12) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-65 (6) pol in Jan.
General Tufto 8-1 (9-4) Outpaced, ridden over 3f out, stayed on final furlong, never nearer, 5th of 14, 11l behind Fluctuation (8-10) at Southwell 1m hcp 0-65 (6) fbs in Jan.