led, ridden and headed inside final furlong, weakened towards finish
held up towards rear, headway on outer over 3f out, when 2nd 1f out, soon led, kept on well
tracked leaders in 3rd, ridden over 1f out, kept on towards finish
with leader, challenged over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
held up in touch, chased leaders over 4f out, ridden over 3f out, weakened entering final furlong
held up in rear, lost place well over 4f out, tailed off
Another small field set to go to post for the closer and we'll take STAR CHOICE to guide them home, whilst Choral Festival and Bariolo can fight it out for second. Jeff Pearce has had a good winter and our selection can further improve it by landing this weak contest. Both the five-year-old's wins have come at Wolverhampton but a course and distance second at the start of the month showed this track holds no fears, so off a mark that is 2lbs below that which he won off last time the gelding can oblige. Choral Festival set a steady tempo when fifth on Friday, so if new jockey Richard Kingscote repeats those tactics we can expect a higher ranking in this less competitive affair. The filly won a maiden at Southwell that has worked out very nicely, so whilst a return to that track might prove sensible she can take a hand in the finish of this race in the meantime. Bariolo is well worth monitoring in the betting for a solid yard that had a winner on Friday. His claims are hard to assess as he's only raced twice in this country and returns from a break, but should the market make positive noises it might well pay to listen. Without that benefit the percentage call is to look elsewhere though, so with Amwell Brave regressing and Venir Rouge having beaten just two home in his last couple of starts we'll side with Star Choice.
Star Choice 8-1 (9-11) Mid-division, outpaced over 2f out, soon ridden, no impression until stayed on well inside final furlong to go 3rd post, 3rd of 10, 1 3/4l behind Kristallo (9-6) at Kempton 2m hacp 0-70 (5) pol.
Bariolo (FR) 10-1 (11-2) Held up in mid-division, went 2nd over 2f out, ridden and every chance over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 7th of 11, 5l behind William's Way (10-10) at Wolverhampton 1m 6f am hcp (0-70) (5) pol in Mar.
Venir Rouge 10-1 (8-12) Always behind, 11th of 12, 13l behind Sedgwick (9-3) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-65 (6) pol in Jan.
Choral Festival 6-1 (9-0) Led, headed over 2f out, ridden entering final furlong, soon weakened, 5th of 7, 4l behind Hucking Hero (9-2) at Lingfield 1m 5f hcp 0-65 (6) pol.
Amwell Brave 7-1 (8-9) Held up, mid-division, not clear run over 2f out, soon no impression, 8th of 12, 7l behind Jiggalong (8-9) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-52 (6) pol.
Just Beware 66-1 (8-8) Always in rear, lost touch final 4f, tailed off, last of 13, well behind Mustang Ali (9-2) at Folkestone 2m hcp (6) gf in Jul '06.
