held up, headway on outside over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, staying on when carried right near finish
tracked leaders, headway on outside over 2f out, soon ridden, weakened final furlong
led 2f, tracked leader, ridden to lead inside final furlong, hung right towards finish, stayed on
tracked leaders, went 2nd after halfway, led inside final 2f, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, carried right towards finish, stayed on
It's hardly surprising that Keith Dalgleish runs ACKER BILK here with a 6lb penalty after his demolition job at Wolverhampton last week and, though racing on the surface for the first time, he's difficult to oppose. Swift Cedar has a superb strike-rate and though his last victory was here in March he's on a lower mark and looked back to form here last month. Topamichi also ran well at that same fixture and has won from higher marks in the past but dual Turf winner Jabbaar has been well beaten in his three runs on Polytrack and makes his debut on this surface. Epitaph, who hasn't won in 21 starts, makes a quick reappearance after a moderate effort over a mile here on Friday.
Jabbaar 7-2 (9-2) Dwelt, held up in last pair, headway over 3f out, chased leaders over 1f out, never a threat, 5th of 11, 8 1/4l behind Mixboy (9-5) at Catterick 1m 4f hcp (4) sft in Oct.
Swift Cedar (IRE) 11-4 (9-6) In touch, dropped to rear but in touch 6f out, pushed along over 3f out, ridden and headway towards stand side approaching final furlong, ran on to go 2nd towards finish, 2nd of 6, 1/2l behind Sonnetist (9-1) at Southwell 1m 3f hcp (5) pol in Dec.
Topamichi 10-11fav (9-3) Keen close up, switched right over 2f out, driven and effort to chase winner over 1f out, no impression and lost 2nd towards finish, 3rd of 6, 1 1/2l behind Sonnetist (9-1) at Southwell 1m 3f hcp (5) pol in Dec.
Epitaph (IRE) 5-1 (9-13) Tracked leaders, ridden 3f out, weakened over 1f out, 5th of 7, 6 3/4l behind Aiya (8-9) at Southwell 1m mdn hcp (5) pol in Jan.
Acker Bilk (IRE) 4-1 (8-12) In touch, headway to track leaders over 2f out, led well over 1f out, soon clear, edged left inside final furlong, comfortable, won at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcp (6) pol in Jan beating Gabrial The Terror (9-3) by 8l, 10 ran.