in touch, effort when not much room 2f out, soon ridden, outpaced final furlong
raced keenly in touch, headway to lead when hung right over 2f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, no extra final furlong
tracked leaders, effort 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on
led, headed over 2f out, ridden and outpaced over 1f out, stayed on well towards finish
held up, headway over 1f out, ridden to lead when edged right inside final furlong, kept on
dwelt, held up, headway on outside over 3f out, edged right and challenged over 2f out, kept every chance until one pace final furlong
tracked leader, ridden and effort 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong
in touch, lost place over 2f out, soon beaten
Many of those contesting this event have been badly out of form of late but Pianoforte is not one of those. Eric Alstons' six year old struggles to hit the winning post in front quite often but his recent Hamilton effort behind Royal Amnesty leaves him in with a big shout here. 3lb higher for that effort, he is selected to post career win number four here. Bolton Hall would be of real interest if attracting market support as he races off a mark of 60, 11lb lower than his highest winning mark. That win admittedly was achieved as a three year old, however, he failed to attract the cash on two starts this season which indicated not much was expected. Titinius is another contender for the placings. Pianoforte is certainly no world beater but being the form horse he is the selection.
Snow Dancer (IRE) 40-1 (8-10) Held up mid-division, outpaced 2f out, soon no impression, 7th of 14, 7l behind Summer Gold (9-1) at Newcastle 1m 2f hcp 0-80 (4) gf.
Pianoforte (USA) 9-1 (8-10) Held up towards rear, headway from over 3f out, ridden and led over 1f out, headed when no extra inside last, 2nd of 9, 3/4l behind Royal Amnesty (8-8) at Hamilton 1m 1f hcp 0-70 (5) gf.
Titinius (IRE) 20-1 (8-7) Tracked leaders, ridden over 1f out, kept on same pace final furlong, 5th of 14, 6l behind Summer Gold (9-1) at Newcastle 1m 2f hcp 0-80 (4) gf.
Still Calm 14-1 (9-3) Led, hung right, headed after 2f, remained in touch, hung badly right when weakening over 2f out, 7th of 8, 35l behind Handset (8-12) at Pontefract 1m 3yo mdn (5) gf in Oct.
Rainbow Zest 12-1 (9-4) Towards rear, effort over 3f out, never troubled leaders, 6th of 11, 11l behind Sea Salt (9-4) at Redcar 7f sll (6) sft.
Valdan (IRE) 14-1 (9-1) Slowly into stride, soon mid-division, ridden over 3f out, beaten over 2f out, 10th of 12, 10l behind Zabeel Tower (8-13) at Musselburgh 7f hcap (6) gf.
Muncaster Castle (IRE) 33-1 (8-1) Tracked leader, ridden over 2f out, kept on one pace, 4th of 9, 4l behind Royal Amnesty (8-8) at Hamilton 1m 1f hcp 0-70 (5) gf.
Sparky Vixen 6-1 (8-4) Tracked leaders, chased winner over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 5th of 14, 6l behind Wahoo Sam (8-10) at Nottingham 1m app hcp (5) gd.
Bolton Hall (IRE) 11-2 (8-9) Started very slowly, virtually refused to race, last of 8, well behind Billy One Punch (9-0) at Beverley 1m hcap (5) gf.
Shosolosa (IRE) 10-1 (8-1) Held up in rear, headway and wide over 1f out, kept on, not reach leaders, 5th of 14, 2 1/2l behind Nassar (8-5) at Great Leighs 1m hcp 0-60 (6) pol.
Gee Ceffyl Bach 14-1 (8-6) Chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, outpaced over 1f out, driven and kept on inside final furlong, 5th of 13, 4l behind Balerno (8-10) at Yarmouth 7f hcp 0-50 (6) gf in Apr.
