always well behind
prominent, driven along 2f out, ridden, every chance over 1f out, kept on under pressure final furlong to take 2nd close home
chased leaders, pushed along 3f out, weakened 2f out
held up in mid-division, headway over 2f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, headed well inside final furlong, lost 2nd close home
chased leaders, weakened 3f out
held up in touch, driven, stayed on final 2f, led near finish
chased leaders, hard ridden 2f out, soon weakened
held up in rear, headway over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, never going pace to reach leaders
in touch, stayed alone towards far side in straight, soon struggling
always behind
behind, driven 3f out, never in contention
led, hard ridden 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
in touch, ridden 3f out, soon beaten
always behind
always behind
An open handicap here where quite a few have chances and the principles look to be Nina Fontenail, Sabbiosa, Sovietta and Aylmer Road and we will side with the last-named to come good again. Paul Cole's colt shoulders top weight here and true enough, he does need to rediscover something like decent form to win this. However, he is a course and distance winner who handles fast ground, he is back on a winning mark for the first time since that success almost a year ago, and he can make that count. Sabbiosa has a penchanct for softer ground than this and will probably not be seen to best effect unless there is some rain around. Her bare form alone merits respect here, but she is just overlooked on this occasion. Sovietta is another who would prefer to get her toe in as a heavy ground c&d winner and she clearly does not relish fast ground, so we look elsewhere, while Nina Fontenail has trip and going to suit but looks a bit too high in the weights. She may make the frame, but we think that Aylmer Road will get his head in front.
Sabbiosa (IRE) 9-1 (9-4) Chased leaders, every chance over 1f out, weakened well inside final furlong, 6th of 16, 4 1/2l behind Sphinx (9-5) at Nottingham 1m 6f hcap (5) sft in Apr.
Kathryn Janeway (IRE) 25-1 (9-2) Close up, ridden to chase easy winner 2f out, no impression and lost 2nd inside final furlong, 3rd of 17, 6l behind Jakarmi (9-1) at Bath 1m 2f hcap (6) gd in Apr.
Lewis Island (IRE) 14-1 (9-3) Slowly away, headway to track leaders 6f out, ridden 3f out, soon beaten, 7th of 10, 6l behind Monte Cristo (9-3) at Lingfield 2m app hcp (5) pol in Mar.
Nina Fontenail (FR) 15-2 (8-13) Chased leaders, pushed along 3f out, stayed on same pace to take 2nd inside final furlong, but no chance with winner, 2nd of 17, 5l behind Jakarmi (9-1) at Bath 1m 2f hcap (6) gd in Apr.
Mossmann Gorge 14-1 (9-1) Towards rear, ridden and headway over 1f out, never reached challenging position, 8th of 15, 8l behind Oldenway (9-3) at Catterick 1m 4f clm (6) gf.
Madhavi 25-1 (8-13) Held up, always in rear, 12th of 15, 14l behind Dinner Date (8-12) at Kempton 1m 2f hcp 0-65 (6) pol.
Sovietta (IRE) 10-1 (8-4) Held up in rear, ridden and headway 2f out, stayed on inside final furlong, 3rd of 9, 7l behind Migration (8-2) at Southwell 1m 4f app hcp (5) gd in Apr.
Aylmer Road (IRE) 8-1 (8-10) Led until headed over 4f out, weakened, 11th of 14, 25l behind Trance (9-8) at Newbury 2m hcp 0-80 (4) gd in Apr.
