pulled hard and led, headed 4f out, soon weakened
mid-division, headway on bit 4f out, challenged and led 2f out, headed over 1f out, no extra
mid-division, headway and challenged 3f out, ridden and led 2f out, drifted left final furlong, ran on well
held up towards rear, ridden 4f out, soon weakened
towards rear, headway 4f out, every chance 2f out, stayed on
mid-division, ridden 5f out, soon no impression
mid-division, ridden and outpaced 7f out, rallied and stayed on well from 2f out (improve)
held up last, ridden 4f out, soon weakened
prominent, ridden 3f out, every chance 2f out, weakened final furlong
tracked leader, led 4f out, ridden and headed 2f out, soon weakened
mid-division, headway on bit 4f out, challenged 2f out, every chance 1f out, stayed on well final furlong
Particularly if supported in the betting, Afdal gets the vote here ahead of Banchory Two, It's A Pleasure and Lamp's Return. The selection hails from the Venetia Williams stable which has a good record in these types of races. If breeding is anything to go by - he is by Grand Lodge out of a Darshaan mare - then he should certainly show up well here. The Paul Nicholls-trained Banchory Two, showed promise on his debut and the market might guide as to which is the stronger of the trainer's entries, as he also runs Silver Jewel. Point-to-point winner Briery Fox could be interesting with Mick Fitzgerald booked along with Henrietta Knight's It's A Pleasure and the French import, Miko de Beauchene, trained by Bob Buckler. Finally, Lamp's Return finished third in a fair bumper on her debut and has also to be brought into the reckoning. All in all, though, especially if he attracts support, we will side with Afdal.
