chased leaders, soon pushed along, effort over 2f out, soon ridden, led inside final furlong, kept on, headed towards finish
tracked leaders and keen, led over 2f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on same pace
led, ridden and headed over 2f out, one pace
slowly into stride, held up behind, ridden and good headway well over 1f out, kept on well to lead towards finish
chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong
An intriguing auction maiden to get this card underway where those with racecourse experience have all shown a high degree of promise. It sometimes proves profitable to follow trainers to excel with their handling of juveniles and Eoghan O'Neill is one that falls into this bracket. O'Neill's contender here Saif Al Fahad showed distinct promise on his racecourse debut, separating the better fancied pair Prize Point and Woolston Ferry, both of whom hold big race entries later on this season. The front three drew a long way clear of the remainder, where Saif Al Fahad ran right to the line and a re-production would see him land this. Noble Storm conceded weight all round when finishing third behind Reve De Soleil who incidentally has landed a conditions event since. He did show signs of greenness on his debut and he can be expected to have learned from the experience. Forward Feline is the most experienced in the field having had three outings. Judging her efforts, if the ground remains good she would come into calculations but if it dries out her chances would be compromised. Her form behind Penny's Gift was given a major boost when that filly finished second in the Albany Stakes. Considering she was only 1 3/4 lengths behind the Hannon filly off levels, that was a big run in hindsight. It was in soft ground though and ground conditions are likely to be much different. Campbeltown Trader was a long way adrift of Forward Feline on his racecourse debut when he was badly out-paced but showed marked improvement when finishing second in a Windsor maiden over six furlongs next time. Market support for either of the Newmarket raiders Diddums and Rafiqa should be noted but Saif Al Fahad separated two smart juveniles first time out and will take all the beating here.
