held up in touch, led over 1f out, joined inside final furlong, headed final strides
tracked leaders, ridden 4f out, weakened over 1f out
held up, ridden and headway over 2f out, pressed leader inside final furlong, led final strides
slowly into stride, soon pushed along in rear
behind early, never nearer
in touch, improved to lead 3f out, soon ridden, headed over 1f out, one pace final furlong
with leader until halfway
led, headed 3f out, ridden and weakened over 1f out
always in rear
It's difficult to split BESTOWED and Hit The Switch here so our preference for the former can only be seen as marginal, whilst Provost is one to monitor closely in the market. David Evans' gelding has seemingly improved for the switch to artificial surfaces, breaking his duck at Wolverhampton and adding to that over today's course and distance. He's strung together an admirably consistent run of form lately so whilst a 4lb rise in the ratings makes life tougher, this isn't the strongest of contests and he looks set to go very close. Hit The Switch is arguably the one to beat on the strength of his last-time-out success. That effort came in a better class of contest and so, despite a 5lb higher mark today, Pat Morris' charge can go close to adding to his three course and distance wins this winter. Provost landed a huge gamble for his shrewd yard when winning here last March. That success came off a mark of 59 so the fact that he races here off 1lb lower, the first time his mark has dropped below 60 since that win, advertises the point that connections have a well handicapped horse on their hands. He'll surely be placed to winning effect over the coming weeks, but he faces two in-form sorts today and might be best watched. General Tufto is a standing dish around here and will attract his share of support, but for all his good course form he's yet to win off a mark this high on Fibresand. West End Lad has plenty to do with Hit The Switch on their meeting last time but he could yet improve so rates of some interest at a price, more so than Magnitude whose second last time looks good but it was over further and he's yet to race here. Ten Pole Tudor's last win came here and he's only racing off a pound higher today, but Ron Harris' gelding is none too consistent and looks opposable, along with Vogarth who is back down to a fair mark but needs to improve on recent efforts to compete. Claims can be made for a few of these one way or another, but the recent winning pair look set to dominate and of them we prefer Bestowed.
Hypnotic Gaze (IRE) 20-1 (9-0) Outpaced and behind, never dangerous, 7th of 10, 8l behind Elusive Warrior (9-2) at Southwell 7f hacp 0-70 (5) fbs.
West End Lad 4-1 (9-1) Led, headed over 2f out, soon ridden and outpaced, weakened final furlong, 5th of 7, 9l behind Hit The Switch (8-2) at Southwell 1m hacp 0-70 (5) fbs.
General Tufto 20-1 (8-1) In touch, ridden to challenge over 2f out, stayed on same pace, 4th of 11, 4l behind Ours (8-12) at Southwell 1m hcp 0-80 (4) fbs.
Hit The Switch 3-1 (8-2) Held up, ridden and outpaced 3f out, headway under pressure over 2f out, led and edged left over 1f out, stayed on well final furlong, won at Southwell 1m hacp 0-70 (5) fbs beating Borasco (8-12) by 1 3/4l, 7 ran.
Magnitude 16-1 (8-3) Chased leaders, hard ridden to challenge well over 1f out, kept on well under pressure, not reached winner, 2nd of 6, nk behind Clear Sailing (8-6) at Lingfield 1m 2f Claiming Stakes (0-70) (4yo+) (6) pol.
Bestowed 7-2 (8-11) Pulled hard, soon close up on inner, went 2nd over 3f out, led over 2f out, edged left inside final furlong, driven out, won at Southwell 1m hcp 0-60 (6) fbs beating Silca Meydan (8-7) by 1 1/2l, 7 ran.
Vogarth 12-1 (8-5) Behind, headway over 1f out, never on terms, 5th of 10, 6l behind Elusive Warrior (9-2) at Southwell 7f hacp 0-70 (5) fbs.
Noble Attitude 33-1 (8-12) Held up in touch, under pressure halfway, soon weakened, 5th of 11, 14l behind Cheyenne Red (9-3) at Hamilton 6f mdn stks (5) sft in Aug.
Ten Pole Tudor 9-2 (9-4) Half reared leaving stalls, held up in rear, headway on outside over 3f out, every chance over 2f out, stayed on same pace from over 1f out, 2nd of 5, 2 1/4l behind Heathyards Junior (9-3) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f sell stks (6) pol.
Provost 16-1 (9-5) Held up, some headway 3f out, stayed on from over 1f out, never nearer, 5th of 12, 5l behind Hint Of Honey (8-5) at Southwell 1m hcp 0-60 (6) fbs in Dec.
