held up in last pair, pushed along soon after halfway, headway on inside over 2f out, switched left over 1f out, ridden and stayed on to lead inside final 150 yards, soon clear
dwelt, held up towards rear, headway on wide outside chasing leaders over 2f out, every chance 2f out, soon ridden, weakened final furlong
always in rear, never a factor, tailed off
soon led, pushed along and headed 4f out, soon lost 2nd, chased leaders, weakened final 2f
in touch, pushed along over 3f out, weakened final 2f
took keen hold, soon chased leaders, went 2nd 7f out, led going well 4f out, ridden and hung left over 1f out, narrowly headed just inside final furlong, no extra in 3rd
raced keenly, chased leader 3f, chased leaders awkward on bend 6f out, ridden hung left and weakened over 1f out
chased leaders, went 2nd 3f out, ridden to lead just inside final furlong, headed and not quicken inside final 150 yards
in touch, ridden 3f out, weakened final 2f, eased final furlong
Bombero’s proven ability to handle conditions is a massive plus and Silvestre De Sousa keeps faith with Ed de Giles’ gelding after a recent close fourth at Kempton. FAST AND HOT won twice over course and distance last year. He’s never encountered ground this testing but did won on soft going at Newbury last season, beating Essenaitch, and will be all the better for a pipe-opener at Kempton. He’s been dropped 2lb since and Rossa Ryan takes off a further 5lb. Manchego has been running better than form figures would suggest this year but Daily Trader has done all of his winning on the all-weather and Rail Dancer starts the new campaign on a high enough mark.
Nordic Combined (IRE) 15-2 (9-4) Mid-division, outpaced 4f out, soon ridden, never on terms, weakened over 1f out, 8th of 9, 15 1/2l behind Redicean (9-7) at Redcar 1m 6f hcp (4) sft in Oct.
Fast And Hot (IRE) 9-2 (9-5) Tracked leading pair, went 2nd 7f out, led 2f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong, last of 6, 3 3/4l behind Exceeding Power (9-9) at Kempton 1m 3f hcp (4) pol in Apr.
Rail Dancer 14-1 (9-7) In rear, pushed along over 2f out, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened, tailed off, last of 6, dist behind Ya Jammeel (9-6) at Epsom 1m 4f hcp (5) gs in Aug.
Lady Valdean 25-1 (9-1) Tracked leader, led 10f out, pushed along 3f out, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 9th of 11, 7 1/2l behind Native Fighter (9-0) at Kempton 1m 4f hcp (4) pol in Mar.
Manchego 6-1 (9-1) In touch, ridden over 1f out, no impression, 7th of 8, 4 3/4l behind Copper Baked (9-7) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (4) pol in Mar.
Essenaitch (IRE) 11-1 (9-13) Mid-division, headway over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, faded inside final furlong, 8th of 12, 8 3/4l behind Framley Garth (9-1) at Doncaster 1m 2f hcp (5) sft in Mar.
Maroc 100-1 (10-11) Held up in touch on outside, not fluent 3rd, weakened before 3 out, pulled up approaching next, at Warwick 2m hcp (4) sft in Jan.
Bombero (IRE) 8-1 (8-13) Soon led, ridden over 2f out, headed just over 1f out, kept on, lost 3rd close home, 4th of 12, 1 1/2l behind Paddy A (8-12) at Kempton 1m 3f hcp (5) pol in Apr.
Daily Trader 5-1 (9-2) Slowly away, in rear, headway over 1f out, kept on and no impression, 5th of 8, 11l behind Inn The Bull (9-6) at Wolverhampton 1m 6f hcp (5) pol in Feb.
Baz (FR) 20-1 (9-7) In rear, ridden 2f out, some late headway, 6th of 10, 7 1/2l behind Seven Clans (9-9) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (5) pol in Apr.
