chased leaders, pushed along over 3f out, weakened quickly, tailed off
always behind
mid-division, good headway near side of group chasing leaders over 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, stayed on well
led until 2f out, weakened quickly
pulled hard and prominent, ridden and chased winner over 1f out, 3rd and one pace inside final furlong
held up towards rear in centre, ridden out wide over 1f out, never on terms
awkwardly away, raced centre, chased leader, pushed along inside final 3f, weakened over 2f out
steadied start and awkwardly away, towards rear, ridden over 1f out, never nearer
chased leaders, led 2f out, ridden hung left and headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong
mid-division, headway chasing leaders 2f out, ridden and no impression over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
mid-division, good headway near side of group over 2f out, stayed on into 2nd inside final furlong, no chance with winner
always in rear
Plenty with scope in a wide-open contest. Addosh has been raised 5lb for winning at Thirsk while Military Man returns to action having placed at Newcastle in November. Both Lightening Shore and Smart Qibili placed on the all-weather last time while Natural Value ran well at Kempton and Dickens finished closer at Newmarket. CRANE ended last year with a victory on the Polytrack and with a comeback run in a higher grade at Redcar under his belt, he gets the speculative vote in something of a lottery.
Natural Value 16-1 (9-9) In rear of midfield, ridden and progress over 1f out, switched towards far side rail inside final furlong, up for 4th towards post, 4th of 10, 2 1/2l behind Willyorwon't He (9-6) at Kempton 1m hcp (5) pol in May.
Lightening Shore 11-1 (9-7) Held up towards rear, headway out wide over 1f out, went 2nd and strong run inside final furlong, just failed, 2nd of 10, shd behind Mighty Power (9-5) at Lingfield 1m hcp (5) pol in Apr.
Arqoob (IRE) 16-1 (9-5) Towards rear, ridden 2f out, never a factor, 7th of 10, 5 1/2l behind Alabama Boy (9-7) at Newmarket 1m hcp (4) gd in May.
Bint Al Anood 16-5fav (9-10) Led, went clear 6f out, ridden over 2f out, headed over 1f out, soon weakened, 8th of 11, 14 3/4l behind Seasett (9-6) at Nottingham 1m hcp (5) sft in May.
Military Man 11-4 (9-7) Tracked leaders, headway 2f out, chased winner inside final furlong, kept on, 3rd of 10, 1 1/4l behind Annandale (9-6) at Newcastle 1m (5) pol in Nov.
Crane (IRE) 5-2fav (9-4) Held up towards rear, ridden and outpaced before 1f out, kept on inside final furlong but never dangerous, 5th of 9, 3 3/4l behind Maison de York (9-0) at Redcar 1m hcp (4) gf in Apr.
Smart Qibili (USA) 11-4 (9-7) Prominent, led over 3f out, ridden and slightly bumped 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra close up, 2nd of 5, 1 1/2l behind Deep Impression (9-1) at Southwell 1m hcp (5) pol in Jan.
Lenny's Spirit (FR) 14-1 (9-8) Just better than midfield, ridden for effort over 3f out, soon struggling, weakened over 2f out, 11th of 12, 23 1/4l behind Sonning (9-3) at Beverley 1m 2f hcp (5) gf in Apr.
Villeurbanne 16-5 (9-6) Dwelt in touch in rear, headway towards far side 2f out, kept on same pace, 6th of 7, 5 1/2l behind Khezaana (9-7) at Beverley 1m 2f hcp (5) gs in May.
Addosh 3-1 (9-6) Tracked leader, shaken up and made strong challenge 1f out, led inside final 110 yards, kept on, easy, won at Thirsk 1m hcp (5) gf in Apr beating Space Kid (9-3) by 1 3/4l, 6 ran.
Dickens (IRE) 28-1 (8-13) In rear, ridden and headway approaching final furlong, ran on, nearest finish, 4th of 10, 2l behind Alabama Boy (9-7) at Newmarket 1m hcp (4) gd in May.
Mind That Jet (IRE) 12-1 (9-5) In rear, outpaced 5f out, ridden and headway over 1f out, nearest finish, 5th of 11, 11l behind Yorkshire Lady (8-11) at Leicester 7f (5) hvy in Oct.
