made all, driven over 1f out, all out but held on well
slowly into stride, always in rear
chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, headway under pressure over 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, held close home
chased leaders, ridden halfway, wandered and one pace from over 1f out
close up, pressed winner from over 4f out till over 1f out
tracked winner, pushed along over 5f out, weakened over 3f out
slowly into stride, towards rear, never dangerous
This is a poor race and it might pay to side with the Mark Johnston-trained gelding Sir Frank Gibson, who gets the narrow vote head of Smart Boy Prince and Casantella. Sir Frank Gibson was well beaten behind Consonant last time at Wolverhampton and is certainly not the type to place a great deal of faith in. However, this race will not take much winning and if he can translate the best of his turf form onto this track, then he will not be too far away at the finish. Smart Boy Prince was a good winner on this track last week and he hails from the in-form Paul Blockley yard. But he is upped in trip and has been well beaten on both his previous attempts over a mile on this track, so despite his obvious claims he may be worth taking on. Casantella will handle the surface and has shown a moderate level of form which makes him a contender, but he will have to improve if he is to have anything more than place claims. Brother Cadfael is another with good place prospects as he has shown a fair level of form over this course and distance, but in an open affair, we will take a chance on Sir Frank Gibson.