led, ridden and headed over 2f out, weakend over 1f out
towards rear, pushed along and ran green over 3f out, headway over 2f out, kept on final furlong
behind, effort over halfway, weakened over 1f
with leader, led over 2f out, soon ridden, kept on well inside final furlong
towards rear, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f
slowly away, tracked leaders halfway, soon ridden, weakened over 1f
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, every chance final furlong, one pace inside last
mid-division, ridden and headway to chase leaders over 2f out, one pace final furlong
A wide open maiden here with very little for us to go on except breeding and a couple of runs for Secretary General, who could go well, but might be susceptible to one of the newcomers, West Country, who can see off fellow debutantes Maaloof and Nukhbah. The selection is bred to do well at this trip as a two-year-old and with his trainer Mark Johnston having a 30 per cent strike rate at this level this season it should pay to side with the Gone West colt. Maaloof's dam is from a family that do well at this trip as this age, and with trainer John Dunlop also doing well this season at this level, he can make the frame along with the experienced Secretary General. The latter has had a couple of starts at this trip but did not progress that well from the first of those and despite those experiences may not be quick enough, while Nukhbah looks the best of the rest. However we will stick with West Country to make a winning debut.
