soon settled in 3rd, niggled along 5f out, headway on outside into 2nd inside final 2f, led inside final furlong, stayed on
raced keenly, soon tracking leader, ridden hung left and lost 2nd inside final 2f, soon beaten
raced wide 1st 2f, led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, stayed on same pace
Rydan is down to a career-low mark but is hard to be confident about in his current form and a losing run dating back to September 2016. He does stay this trip though and maybe Oisin Murphy can get an improved tune out of the Moore gelding. Ardamir went close last time at Kempton but has also struggled to find the winner's enclosure and is now 0-25 on the level. Tactics may well decide the outcome but ITS'AFREBEE (NAP) is the one in really good heart at present, has no stamina issues and is seemingly improving steadily since having attentions turned away from the NH scene. He can concede weight to his two rivals and follow up a recent Yarmouth success.
Its'afreebee (IRE) 2-1 (9-7) Last to break, held up in last well behind leader, closed 3f out, went 2nd over 2f out, led well over 1f out, stayed on well, won at Yarmouth 1m 6f hcp (5) gf in Jul beating Hope Is High (9-4) by 3 1/2l, 4 ran.
Rydan (IRE) 25-1 (9-4) In rear, well beaten final 2f, 12th of 14, 10 3/4l behind Villette (8-11) at Kempton 1m 3f hcp (4) pol in Jun.
Ardamir (FR) 12-1 (8-13) In touch on outside, led over 4f out, ridden and headed narrowly over 1f out, rallied when carried right towards finish, just held, 2nd of 11, hd behind The Way You Dance (9-1) at Kempton 2m hcp (5) pol in Jul.
