slowly into stride and behind, headway 2f out, effort 1f out, soon no extra
always behind
slowly into stride and behind, headway on outside 1f out, kept on inside final furlong to be nearest at finish
held up, effort 2f out, soon beaten
led, ridden and headed just inside final furlong, no extra
tracked leader, ridden well over 2f out, weakened and soon one pace
always prominent, ridden along over 2f out, ridden approaching final furlong, switched right inside final furlong and ran on to go 2nd close home
Hail The Chief is in good heart at present and looks capable of taking this from Boo, Desert Leader and Mizz Tee. The selection was a course and distance winner on his penultimate start and ran well off this 4lb higher mark at Lingfield last time. He goes well here, has the sort of draw that can get him near the front with minimum fuss and he can take this. Boo was a 9f winner here last time out but is 2lb wrong with the selection on official ratings. Karl Burke's gelding is drawn alongside Hail The Chief and it will be an interesting tussle between them. Desert Leader runs off the same mark as when beaten by Boo last time and at these weights he again has a chance of getting closely involved at the business end, so don't write him off, while Mizz Tee went well on her only start at this track last time out, though she just looks to have too much weight. On balance then we will side with Hail The Chief to take the prize.
Moayed 17-2 (9-6) Slowly into stride, soon in touch, ridden over 1f out, one pace final furlong, 3rd of 11, 3 1/2l behind Suggestive (9-12) at W'hampton 7f hcp 0-100 (2) pol.
Shahzan House (IRE) 5-1 (9-6) Close up, ridden 3f out, soon weakened, 10th of 11, 11l behind Ace of Hearts (9-5) at Windsor 1m hcp (2) gd in Aug.
Gavroche (IRE) 10-1 (8-12) Keen hold, steadied in rear, ridden and no response over 2f out, 11th of 15, 12l behind Khyber Kim (8-10) at Newbury 1m 2f hcp 0-100 (2) gs in Oct.
Lygeton Lad 12-1 (8-13) Held up in rear, headway 2f out, effort and hung left over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, 3rd of 12, 4l behind Red Spell (8-7) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Nov.
Hail The Chief 5-1 (8-12) Soon led, ridden 2f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on, 3rd of 6, 1 1/2l behind Psychiatrist (8-12) at Lingfield 1m Cond Stakes (4) pol.
Desert Leader (IRE) 9-4jt-fav (9-3) Chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, chased winner inside final furlong, ran on, 2nd of 8, 1 1/2l behind Boo (9-1) at W'hampton 1m 1f hcp 0-85 (4) pol.
Mizz Tee (IRE) 14-1 (9-4) Prominent, led 2f out, ridden well over 1f out, headed close home, 3rd of 12, 1l behind Trifti (9-0) at W'hampton 1m 1f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Nov.
Boo 7-1 (9-1) Tracked leaders, ridden to lead over 1f out, ran on well, won at W'hampton 1m 1f hcp 0-85 (4) pol beating Desert Leader (9-3) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.