slowly into stride and held up well in rear, headway 3f out, ridden and hung left from over 1f out, kept on reluctantly final furlong
always in rear, struggling final 5f, tailed off
soon led, ridden over 3f out, headed over 2f out, lost 2nd over 1f out, weakened final furlong
pressed leaders to 5f out, soon weakened, tailed off
close up in 4th, tracked leader 5f out, led over 2f out, pushed out and stayed on final furlong
took keen hold in touch, ridden 6f out, weakened and well behind final 4f, tailed off
tracked leaders, hard ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
held up in touch, stayed on to chase winner over 1f out, slashed tail under pressure and held final furlong
Quite a few moderate performers in this selling race so it could rest between the three runners with with recent placed form Mysterium, Radiant Bride and Blue Savanna, with the former just getting the nod. Nick Littmoden's charge was third of four in a seller at Wolverhampton last week but is better judged on his course and distance effort in December when a close up third behind Waverley Road in a competitive handicap, a repeat of that showing will make him very hard to beat. Radiant Bride has been running against better opposition recently and should appreciate this return to two miles. However for the main threat to the selection we turn to Blue Savanna who takes a big step up in distance after chasing home Absolute Utopia and Icecap here over the 10 furlong trip. He has tried his hand at hurdling so shouldn't have any problem with today's two miles and is one of the more interesting contenders. Of the others Sungio showed some signs of returning to form when fifth here in a handicap last month, however, in what is a very poor contest, Mysterium looks the obvious choice.
