slowly into stride, recovered to lead after 1f, headed well over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden to chase winner over 1f out, no impression
steadied start, held up in rear, effort well over 1f out, no further progress
pressed leader every chance well over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway 3f out, led well over 1f out, soon hung left, came clear inside final furlong, ridden out
led 1f, chased leaders, lost place over 3f out, behind final 2f
Nonrunner
Nonrunner
AHLAWY has been off the track since August but he's by far the most interesting runner and can defy an absence to score, possibly at the main expense of fellow absentees Theocritus and New Star. Frank Sherdian's gelding has in excess of 10lbs in hand of his nearest rival at today's weights, has never been outside the first three over this course and distance, and won a class four handicap when last seen here. All in all, if he's fit and ready to go he should be very hard to beat. The market will doubtless reveal more, but at this stage it's worth overlooking the only doubt about our selection. Theocritus has a similar absence to overcome but if ready to roll he'd represent the chief threat. David Simcock's gelding comes with risks attached as he's had problems with broken blood vessels, but despite that he operates at a profitable strike-rate and should have more to offer on artificial surfaces over the coming months. He's put forward ahead of New Star as best of the rest, with the last-mentioned having been off since April of 2009. The six-year-old is closely matched with Theocritus and has plenty of course form in the book, so there will doubtless be some support for this one too. With our shortlist all having to overcome spells on the sidelines this might appear a contest likely to provide an upset, but the lack of strength in opposition is pretty clear. Moonlight Man comes out next best on the figures but he was beaten 24 lengths last time, Painted Sky was comfortably held in a claimer here and Old Romney has been woeful of late. Both Eightdaysaweek and Spring Hawk at least arrive in reasonable form but they've so much to find at the weights that they can't possibly be seriously recommended, and a better punting policy looks to be to ignore the absence and side with the obvious, Ahlawy.
Ahlawy (IRE) 15-8fav (9-10) Disputed 2nd until chased winner over 5f out, ridden 3f out, hung left over 1f out, no impression final furlong, 2nd of 5, 2 1/4l behind Kaleo (9-9) at Epsom Downs 1m 2f clm stks (5) gf in Aug.
New Star (UAE) 9-2 (8-11) Held up in touch, ridden over 1f out, led just inside final furlong, headed last strides, 2nd of 9, hd behind Becuille (8-6) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Apr.
Old Romney 6-1 (9-8) Slowly into stride, keen, always in rear, 13th of 14, 26l behind Marmooq (9-3) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Nov.
Painted Sky 4-1 (8-9) Held up in mid-division, ridden 2f out, soon beaten, 6th of 11, 6l behind Ghufa (8-13) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f clm stks (6) pol in Dec.
Theocritus (USA) 6-5fav (9-8) Reluctant to load, pushed along in rear, improved to 4th 7f out, ridden to go 3rd over 3f out, effort to dispute 2nd over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong, 3rd of 7, 8l behind Kaleo (9-12) at Lingfield 1m 2f clm stks (6) gd in Sep.
Spring Hawk (IRE) 8-1 (8-6) Held up mid-division stayed on final furlong, 4th of 11, 5l behind Desert Vision (9-13) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Dec.
Back To Paris (IRE) 16-1 (8-4) Soon outpaced, always towards rear, 8th of 9, 23l behind Miss Bootylishes (8-9) at Southwell 1m clm stks (6) fbs.
Moonlight Man 11-4 (8-8) Chased leaders, hung left and weakened over 3f out, 7th of 8, 24l behind Transmission (8-13) at Southwell 1m clm stks (6) fbs.
Eightdaysaweek 6-1 (8-4) Held up, steady headway 4f out, ridden over 2f out, soon no impression, 5th of 9, 12l behind Dream In Blue (9-7) at Southwell 1m 4f hcp 0-65 (6) fbs.
