held up in rear, headway over 2f out on outside, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong
tracked leaders in 3rd, pushed along over 4f out, lost place over 3f out, soon weakened
held up towards rear in 5th, headway 2f out, soon ridden, kept on same pace
led and set good pace, headed over 2f out, soon ridden and weakened
tracked leader, ridden to lead over 2f out, soon headed, weakened over 1f out
held up towards rear, headway over 2f out, ridden to lead 1f out, driven out, held on well towards finish
tracked leaders in 4th, led over 2f out, ridden and headed 1f out, kept on towards finish
Jackday appears to be the solid option in this contest but he doesn't win often enough for our liking and preference is for SONARA although Danish Rebel looks pretty interesting. It could well be that the decision to fit Jackday with cheekpieces will be the making of the gelding who has won just two of his twenty one starts on the level. He's 5lbs higher than for the most recent of his victories but that shouldn't be a problem as he appears to have the ability to win from higher marks if everything falls right. Danish Rebel won his maiden here over a mile and a half back in 2007 but didn't win again until easily scoring over hurdles at Perth last month. That was a taking performance and he could be a threat to all if able to line up on the level in the same sort of form but we'll side with Sonara on his seasonal return. Howard Johnson has been operating at a near one in four strike rate over the past fortnight so the horses are clearly in great heart and Sonara comes here fresh having been given a break since disappointing over hurdles at Ayr and is fancied to bounce back.
Wicked Daze (IRE) 16-1 (8-9) Led, ridden and headed over 2f out, stayed on under pressure until lost place and weakened towards finish, 6th of 10, 6l behind Prince Picasso (8-6) at Hamilton 1m 5f hcp 0-90 (3) gd.
Sonara (IRE) 25-1 (8-12) Led, quickened 4f out, ridden over 1f out, kept on until headed and no extra towards finish, 2nd of 10, 1 3/4l behind Markington (8-3) at Newcastle 2m hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jun.
Film Festival (USA) 10-1 (8-9) Broke well, soon steadied into mid-division, ridden over 3f out, no impression, 8th of 14, 12l behind Bourne (9-2) at Nottingham 1m 2f hcp 0-75 (5) gf.
Oddsmaker (IRE) 16-1 (8-12) Pulled hard, chased clear leader in clear 2nd, ridden 4f out, soon weakened, last of 13, 46l behind Hollins (9-4) at York 2m 2f hcp 0-80 (4) gf.
Danish Rebel (IRE) 10-1 (9-1) Held up in touch, ridden over 4f out, soon beaten, 4th of 5, 21l behind Nero West (9-0) at Musselburgh 1m 6f hcp (5) gs in Jul '08.
Jackday (IRE) 2-1fav (8-13) Held up mid-division, smooth headway from over 2f out, every chance over 1f out, no extra closing stsges, 2nd of 9, nk behind Spruzzo (8-2) at Ripon 2m hcp 0-70 (5) gf.
Forrest Flyer (IRE) 14-1 (9-2) Led after 1f, headed after halfway, remained with leader unitl weakened over 2f out, 9th of 10, 29l behind Sphinx (9-6) at Ayr 1m 7f hcp 0-85 (4) sft in Oct.
Motarid (USA) 8-1 (9-5) Prominent, led over 12f out until 10f out, tracked leader until over 4f out, soon ridden, weakened over 2f out, tailed off, last of 7, 42l behind Hallstatt (9-2) at Nottingham 1m 6f hcp 0-80 (4) gd.
