behind, headway and ridden along over 4f out, one pace 3f out
in rear, ridden over 3f out, never in contention
behind, headway on inside 5f out, ridden and weakened over 3f out
prominent until ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
keen mid-division, short of room after 4f, soon lost position
prominent and keen until ridden over 2f out, weakened 1f out
led until headed over 2f out, ridden and kept on inside final furlong
keen, held up towards rear, never on terms
held up, headway over 2f out, stayed on well inside final furlong
tracked leader, ridden along over 3f out, led over 2f out, kept on well final furlong
mid-division, ridden and headway over 3f out, soon one pace
soon pushed along to keep in touch, ridden and headway over 3f out, one pace from 2f out
A very tricky handicap with question marks against most of them, Bienvenue and Mommkin are from top yards and deserve respect, but we will take a chance on Messe de Minuit. Roger Charlton's colt improved for his seasonal debut effort to finish third to the rejuvenated Prairie Wolf at Beverley last time. There should be more to come and a good run is expected despite the steadier of 9st 7lb. Mommkin hasn't really progressed this season after showing plenty of promise as a two-year-old, however the step up to this more appropriate trip may be what is needed. In contrast, Bienvenue drops back a couple of furlongs after finding a mile and six just testing her stamina. She had previously chased home Settlement Craic in a decent Windsor handicap over this trip, and a repeat of that performance would put her right in the picture here. So not a race for high stakes, but Messe de Minuit does hold obvious claims and gets the vote.
