held up in rear, headway over 1f out, ran on well to take 3rd towards finish, not reached leaders
made all, led and set steady pace, ridden and quickened over 1f out, driven out, weakened well inside final furlong
started slowly, took keen hold behind, headway over 1f out, not reach leaders, lost 3rd towards finish
tracked winner to halfway, soon ridden and weakened 2f out
pulled hard towards rear, chased leaders 2f out, soon ridden and no impression
slowly into stride, soon in touch on outer, ridden over 2f out, no progress and weakened over 1f out
in touch to over 2f out, soon weakened
tracked leaders, ridden to chase winner 3f out, outpaced over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, closing near finish
This is a tricky little heat with Grand Show selected ahead of Maltese Falcon, Graze On and Little Edward. Little Edward comes here in very good form, having won his last three. A seven pounds rise for the latest of them will make things a bit trickier. Qadar ran well from today's mark last time and is only a pound above a winning mark from the spring, although that came over five furlongs. Maltese Falcon's six-pound penalty for his course and distance success makes life trickier for him, although he set a course record there in being ridden more positively than usual. Graze On is rated only one pound above a winning Wolverhampton mark and with an all-weather record of four wins from nine runs, he cannot be ruled out. Grand Show has met trouble in running at Kempton and Wolverhampton since winning here and a good run is not ruled out from his new mark. Finally, Sailor King is struggling to recapture his French 2005 form and Woodnook possibly has it to prove after being revised for a course and distance success. Once again, then, the selection is Grand Show.
Qadar (IRE) 13-2 (8-9) Held up in mid-division, headway over 1f out, ran on under pressure inside final furlong, 3rd of 13, 2l behind Areyoutalkingtome (8-13) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Nov.
Maltese Falcon 10-1 (8-4) Pulled hard with leader, led over 2f out, clear over 1f out, kept up to work, won at Lingfield 6f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Nov beating Viking Spirit (8-10) by 1 1/2l, 10 ran.
Saviours Spirit 5-1 (8-5) Dwelt, held up, ridden and headway 2f out, kept on same pace, 5th of 10, 4l behind Maltese Falcon (8-4) at Lingfield 6f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Nov.
Graze On 16-1 (9-2) Chased leaders, ridden halfway, unable to quicken inside final furlong, 4th of 11, 1l behind Dancing Mystery (8-10) at Southwell 5f hcp 0-95 (3) fbs in Nov.
Little Edward 7-2 (9-10) Steadied start, headway on outer over 1f out, ran on strongly inside final furlong to lead final stride, won at Kempton 5f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Nov beating Pamir (8-11) by a hd, 10 ran.
Grand Show 3-1fav (9-0) Held up, not much room and hanging right from 2f out, running on when not clear run inside final furlong, switched left and finished well, 4th of 11, 1 1/2l behind Saviours Spirit (9-0) at Kempton 6f hcp 0-90 (3) pol in Nov.
Sailor King (IRE) 50-1 (8-7) Raced wide towards rear, never a factor, 11th of 13, 9l behind Areyoutalkingtome (8-13) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Nov.
Woodnook 6-1 (9-0) Tracked leaders, ridden to lead over 1f out, stayed on, headed and lost 2 places final strides, 3rd of 12, nk behind Matuza (8-13) at Lingfield 6f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Nov.
