led, ridden and headed over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up, headway halfway, ridden and kept on one pace final 2f
raced wide, in rear, ridden and hung left from over 2f out, never nearer
slowly into stride, always in rear
slowly into stride, outpaced, never nearer
chased leaders, ridden to chase winner over 1f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, just failed
chased leader, ridden and led over 2f out, driven and all out
chased leaders, ridden and weakened well over 1f out
raced wide, mid-division, ridden halfway, kept on, never nearer
in touch, ridden and weakened well over 1f out
held up, outpaced halfway, never dangerous
A very uninspiring contest is taken to go the way of Secret Tender over the likes of Eeshee, Bella Fiorella, Native Tiptoes and Faithisflying. Secret Tender showed glimpes of form as a two-year-old, enough to suggest that he can open his account at the 11th time of asking. Two outings here in November yielded little, but since then he has been campaigned over further on the Polytrack at Wolverhampton and Lingfield, failing to last home, and it is hoped that this drop back to six furlongs for the first time since last August will prove an inspired move by connections. Eeshee was not beaten that far behind Garlogs in a handicap here in February and the extra furlong should help his cause, so he is another to consider. Bella Fiorella is only improving slowly but is also dropped in class, while Native Tiptoes has first-time cheekpieces on. Faithisflying has had 10 consecutive races here without success but shaped well enough when second last time to merit a small mention at least. However, in a race in which bets should be kept to the absolute minimum, we return to Secret Tender as the answer.
Fir Tree 20-1 (9-12) Held up, ridden halfway, kept on, never dangerous, 6th of 11, 7l behind Miss Lopez (8-8) at Southwell 6f mdn stk (5) fbs.
Faithisflying 11-1 (8-13) Led, ridden 2f out, headed well inside final furlong, no extra, 2nd of 13, 1 1/2l behind Silsong (8-11) at Southwell 1m mdn clm (7) fbs.
Bekoning (IRE) 8-1 (8-8) Tracked leaders, weakened final furlong, 6th of 7, 13l behind Countrywide Belle (8-9) at W'hampton 1m 1f 3yo sll (6) pol in Feb.
Is 20-1 (8-4) Dwelt, always behind, 10th of 12, 10l behind Mr Cheers (8-9) at W'hampton 7f mdn clm (7) pol in Feb.
Native Tiptoes 20-1 (8-10) Chased winner until over 2f out, last of 10, 12l behind Fateful Attraction (8-13) at Lingfield 7f fll hcp (6) pol in Feb.
Eeshee 28-1 (8-12) Chased leaders, ridden and weakened halfway, 6th of 9, 12l behind Garlogs (9-4) at Southwell 5f 3yo hcp (6) fbs in Feb.
Bella Fiorella (IRE) 25-1 (8-7) Mid-division, headway 4f out, weakened over 1f out, 6th of 12, 8l behind Garstang (8-12) at W'hampton 6f 3yo hcp (6) pol in Feb.
Secret Tender (IRE) 16-1 (8-11) Mid-division, headway 5f out, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 10th of 12, 16l behind Ten Shun (8-11) at W'hampton 1m 1f 3yo sll (6) pol in Jan.
