led, ridden and headed over 2f out, soon weakened
tracked leaders, ridden to lead over 2f out, ran on well
tracked leaders, ridden and every chance 3f out, weakened 2f out
held up, headway over 3f out, ridden to challenge over 1f out, soon every chance, kept on same pace final furlong
held up in touch, ridden and effort over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
held up, some headway over 4f out, weakened over 3f out
None of those to have run has looked anything special, so a chance is taken with Direct Flight, who hails from a yard that does well with its runners in bumpers, having saddled four winners from 23 runners last year, and has a 22% strike rate this year with two winners from just nine runners. Oscar The Boxer shaped with plenty of promise on his debut at Market Rasen when just failing to peg back One Five Eight, who had the benefit of a couple of runs and has since followed up under a penalty. He will be difficult to beat. King's Echo proved an expensive failure at Warwick, following a promising debut at Doncaster and with Mick Fitzgerald again taking the reins, is one to keep an eye on. Marshys Mia is out of a winning three-mile chaser and will surely find this track too sharp for her, while John Jenkins' On The Verge is worth a look in the market with Richard Johnson doing the steering. However, Lambourn raider Direct Flight is taken to make the long journey pay dividends.
