held up in rear, headway on inside 2f out, stayed on steadily final furlong, not reached leaders
close up on outside, effort over 2f out, soon ridden and weakened quickly over 1f out
started slowly, always rear group, never in contention
held up behind mid-division, ridden 2f out, no impression on leaders over 1f out
mid-division, ridden 2f out, not quicken over 1f out
close up, stayed on to lead well inside final furlong, headed near finish
in touch, ridden and outpaced over 2f out, soon weakened
led, ridden over 2f out, kept on until headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong
slowly into stride, behind, some headway on outside over 3f out, soon ridden and weakened over 2f out
tracked leader, ridden to challenge and every chance 2f out, not quicken over 1f out, one pace final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden to lead over 1f out, no extra when headed well inside final furlong and soon lost 2nd
towards rear, struggling over 2f out, never dangerous
mid-division, chased leaders over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, weakened quickly from 2f out
behind, good headway on inside over 1f out, ran on final furlong to lead near finish
FAINTLY HOPEFUL receives our nomination in the finale with Apache Dawn and Complete Frontline others that are expected to show up prominently. Complete Frontline is nicely drawn if he faces up to the first time visor and there must be a chance of that occurring as he showed improved form when tried in cheekpieces on his penultimate start. Apache Dawn has been in decent nick over hurdles and has proved reasonably consistent on all-weather surfaces in the past; he drops markedly back in trip here but travels well enough to think that it may suit him. Marginal preference though is for the less exposed Faintly Hopeful who was beaten under three lengths when finishing in midfield on his handicap bow last time. There was much more encouragement in that run than in his previous three starts and leads us to believe that a little improvement for this longer trip could see Faintly Hopeful scoring.
Apache Dawn 3-1 (9-3) Held up in rear, headway over 3f out, chased winner 2f out, soon ridden, no impression when lost 2nd inside final furlong, 3rd of 10, 7l behind Stand Guard (9-3) at Kempton 1m 2f stk 0-55 (6) pol in Oct.
Blue Savannah (FR) 80-1 (8-5) Led 7f out, headed 3f out, weakened over 2f out, last of 11, 33l behind Direct Debit (9-0) at W'hampton 1m 1f clm (6) pol in Nov.
Bourbon Balistic 16-1 (8-9) Prominent, raced keenly, edged left over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 9th of 12, 7l behind Grand Palace (9-0) at W'hampton 6f hcp 0-65 (6) pol in Nov.
Complete Frontline (GER) 11-2 (9-1) Mid-division, under pressure over 2f out, soon beaten, 9th of 13, 26l behind Yes Eighteen (9-5) at Great Leighs 1m 2f 3yo app hcp (6) pol in Oct.
Copperwood 9-1 (8-12) In touch until weakened approaching final furlong, 7th of 13, 10l behind It's Josr (8-8) at Bath 1m 3yo hcp (6) gs in Aug.
Eleanor Eloise (USA) 8-1 (8-11) Tracked leaders on inside, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 6th of 11, 4 1/2l behind Royal Manor (9-2) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Nov.
Faintly Hopeful 20-1 (8-11) Mid-division, no impression over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong without troubling leaders, 5th of 12, 2l behind Kindallachan (8-12) at Kempton 6f hcp (6) pol in Nov.
Follow Your Spirit 50-1 (8-9) Tracked leaders, ridden and effort 2f out, soon no headway and weakened over 1f out, 7th of 9, 11l behind Monkey Glas (9-3) at Lingfield 7f clm (6) pol in Nov.
Ginger Minx (IRE) 25-1 (8-7) Went left start, always behind, last of 14, 32l behind Rossini's Dancer (8-5) at Beverley 1m app 0-55 (6) sft in Sept.
Just Jimmy (IRE) 22-1 (9-6) Pulled hard in rear, ridden 3f out, never dangerous, 7th of 12, 12l behind Samurai Warrior (9-0) at W'hampton 7f sll (6) pol in Nov.
Karate Queen 14-1 (8-10) Prominent 4f out, 2nd and every chance entering straight, weakened towards finish, 4th of 12, 5l behind Marmooq (8-10) at W'hampton 7f hcp (6) pol in Nov.
Langham House 13-2 (8-13) Led until headed well over 1f out, soon weakened, 9th of 13, 5l behind Piccolo Diamante (8-13) at Kempton 7f hcp (6) pol in Nov.
Rough Rock (IRE) 14-1 (8-1) Dwelt, in rear, ridden over 2f out, headway when hung left over 1f out, kept on, nearest finish, 6th of 14, 6l behind Doric Lady (8-10) at Yarmouth 6f hcp 0-75 (5) sft in Oct.
Tuxedo 12-1 (8-4) With winner, lost place over 2f out, 7th of 9, 10l behind Greek Theatre (9-4) at Great Leighs 1m 3yo hcp (6) pol in Oct.
