led, ridden and headed over 4f out, weakened final 3f
pushed along and reminders towards rear, ridden over 3f out, headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong
held up in touch, ridden and weakened over 3f out
held up in touch, headway 5f, ridden 4f out, weakened 2f out
chased leaders, led 3f out, soon ridden, kept on well final furlong
slowly into stride, soon chasing leaders on outer, led over 4f out, ridden over 3f out, soon headed, lost 2nd over 1f out, one pace
in touch, headway to chase leaders over 4f out, soon ridden, went 2nd over 1f out when edging left, not quicken inside final furlong
slowly into stride, always behind
behind, ridden and headway over 3f out, stayed on final furlong
with leader, driven up 5f out, soon lost place, tailed off
chased leaders, ridden and weakened 3f out
always behind, tailed off final 3f
Malmand gets the call here over Fraternity, with a number of others to consider at bigger prices. The selection is the only course winner in the line-up, that success having come in a seller last March. A repeat of that effort gives him solid claims here. Fraternity, who did quite well in the Middle East in 2002, takes a big drop in trip here from recent runs. That should suit and it's fair to say that he has a very good chance based on his British form of two years ago. Others with place claims on bits of form are Chickasaw Trail, Dancing Tilly, Tropical Son, Repertoire (who races in blinkers for the first time) and Soleil d'Hiver, who might appreciate this longer trip. The Laverton Lad showed promise on his second start, but has done little in two runs since, while Samar Qand is held on November form by the selection. Famed gambler Barney Curley runs Ndola in this contest, but the five-year-old has a long absence and little in the way of form to overcome if he is to score. This leads us back to Malmand, who gets our vote.
