led until headed over 2f out, weakened quickly afterwards, lost 3rd 1f out
held up mid-division, lost position 5f out, soon behind, tailed off
prominent one mile, soon ridden and kept on one pace
held up, headway 3f out, led over 2f out, stayed on strongly final furlong
held up rear, reminders after 2f, headway and effort to chase winner 2f out, no extra final furlong
started slowly, soon mid-division, chased leaders 4f out, under pressure and weakened quickly over 2f out, tailed off
tracked leaders, lost touch over 4f out, well behind 3f out, tailed off
held up behind, in touch 3f out, kept on under pressure final 2f, took 3rd 1f out, not trouble 1st two
tracked leader, ridden and weakened quickly 3f out, soon tailed off
A tough way to end the card and cases can be made for at least half of the field. However, Ersaal does arrive here on the back of two sound efforts and he is given the nod over Dora Corbino and Make My Hay, who have also posted improved form of late. Whereas Stage Two is still open to a fair amount of improvement and has to be respected as a rare runner in this grade for Mark Johnston. However, Ersaal is ideally suited to this sort of trip and will be hard to beat if translating his all weather form back to the turf. Pipsallio has claims on a line through Isa 'Af and is another to place on the shortlist. Julian Poulton's runner has managed a previous course win from his many starts on the Flat but his tendency to reserve a little for himself has always been an off-putting trait and he will always be a risky proposition for win only purposes. Therefore, he is taken on with Ersaal, who gets on well with Neil Callan and the partnership edge the percentages today.
