prominent, led over 3f out, soon ridden, headed close home, all out to lead line
lost touch from halfway, virtually pulled up 4f out
tracked leaders, chased leaders 4f out, weakened 3f out
mid-division, ridden over 4f out, soon weakened
mid-division, keen, headway 7f out, ridden and weakened 3f out
in touch, outpaced 5f out, kept on final 2
in touch, ridden to chase leaders 3f out, led close home, all out and headed line
mid-division, outpaced 6f out, headway over 3f out, one pace from over 1f out
mid-division to rear, weakened over 5f out
led, headed over 3f out, weakened
towards rear, effort 10f out, weakened 6f out, soon well behind
towards rear, ridden and headway over 4f out, kept on
in rear, keen, ridden and no impression from 5f out
in touch, keen, ridden and weakened over 3f out
In the bumper, County Zen is selected ahead of The Sportsman and Kikos. County Zen made some nice late headway to finish third behind a good type in Quartano on his racecourse debut at Cheltenham and, based on that, could prove to be the best option today. That said, The Sportsman has the beating of him based on collateral form using the same horse from his debut run. Fountain Fortune's second to Maggie Mathias at Taunton rates as a fair effort and he can go well too. Of the others, American Cricket, a 42,000 pounds purchase last April, could be interesting from Carl Llewellyn's yard; Boomerang showed some promise on his debut but he looks more a staying type, the Alan King-trained Kikos cost 35,000 euros and looks one of the more likely types on breeding; Love The Hat is another that showed debut promise at Stratford and has to be given some thought; Strong Coffee might be interesting if attracting money; Piemont could be interesting from the Ian Williams yard; Mortimers Cross has shown some promise, and Quarrytown is surely better than his debut effort. Overall, though, we make County Zen the selection.
American Cricket (IRE) (12-0) 2nd of 16, 5l behind Teamgeist (12-0) at Dromahane 3m ire ptp gs in Apr.
Blue Flight (IRE) Fayruz gelding, half-brother to winning sprinter Reptar.
Boomerang (IRE) 8-1 (10-7) Held up, some headway over 1f out, never on terms, 4th of 10, 18l behind Johnny Bissett (11-0) at Huntingdon 2m nhf (6) gs in Dec.
Fountain Fortune 10-1 (11-2) Held up last, headway over 3f out, chased winner over 2f out, ran on gamely final furlong, 2nd of 7, 5l behind Maggie Mathias (9-13) at Taunton 2m 1f mdn nhf (6) gd in Nov.
Kikos (FR) Nikos gelding out of a once-raced mare.
Lucozade 22-1 (11-4) In touch until lost place over 6f out, 17th of 18, well behind West End King (11-4) at Huntingdon 2m mdn nhf (5) sft.
Mortimers Cross 13-2 (10-13) Tracked leaders, lost 2nd towards finish, one pace, 3rd of 13, 5l behind Lodge Lane (10-11) at Uttoxeter 2m nhf (6) hvy in Dec.
Overclear 12-1 (11-4) Mid-division, headway 8f out, stayed on one pace final 2f, 3rd of 12, 7l behind Galoshes (10-13) at Hereford 2m 1f mdn nhf (6) hvy.
Quarry Town (IRE) 11-1 (11-2) Held up, never in contention, 10th of 15, 44l behind Wise Men Say (11-2) at Folkestone 2m 1f nhf (6) gs in Nov.
Strong Coffee Classic Cliche gelding, brother to winning chaser Superrollercoaster, half-brother to bumper and chase winner Super Road Train.
Gunnabelil Gunner B mare out of 1m4f and hurdles winner Young Tess.
Love The Hat 25-1 (10-0) Chased leader, led over 6f out, ridden 2f out, headed well inside final furlong, 2nd of 11, 2l behind Shiwawa (11-7) at Stratford 2m nhf (5) gf in Sept.
Miss Bustino Overbury mare out of a moderate racemare.
County Zen (FR) 12-1 (10-12) Mid-division, stayed on from over 1f out, went 3rd inside final furlong, 3rd of 15, 9l behind Quartano (11-2) at Cheltenham 1m 4f nhf lst (1) hvy.
Piemont (FR) April Night gelding out of a lightly-raced mare.
The Sportsman (FR) 6-1 (10-12) Held up in mid-division, ridden to lead over 3f out, headed over 1f out, no extra, 2nd of 13, 8l behind Quartano (10-12) at Exeter 1m 5f nhf (5) sft in Dec.
