slowly into stride, soon mid-division, ridden halfway, headway final furlong, stayed on close home, no chance with winner
in touch, ridden and weakened from halfway
prominent 4f, eased final furlong
prominent, ridden halfway, weakened over 1f out
slowly into stride, soon mid-division, ridden halfway, weakened over 1f out
slowly into stride, outpaced never nearer
always prominent, ridden over 2f out, chased winner over 1f out, kept on one pace inside final furlong
went right start, held up, outpaced from halfway, kept on final furlong, never nearer
held up mid-division, ridden and outpaced over 2f out, kmon final furlong, never dangerous
close up, led 2f out, clear final furlong, pushed out (hand-timed)
An interesting contest to get the card underway, with several of the big yards represented. Of the newcomers, Ijtihad, who is the first foal of Cherry Hinton winner Asfurah, is clearly well regarded and holds an entry in next years Derby, but whether he will handle underfoot conditions is another matter as his dam never raced on anything worse than good ground, while the booking of Pat Eddery for Sambucan Daze catches the eye. A half-brother to the useful Master Fay, it is interesting that his trainer starts him off at this level, rather than finding an easier opening at one of the lesser tracks. Move It can be expected to have improved for his debut, and being by Cadeaux Genereux he will relish any give underfoot. It remains to be seen whether this drop in trip will bring about improvement from Pirouettes, but Calbrae, who is out of the speedy Willow Dale (the winner of five races over sprint trips), will be well suited to this trip and must go well. However, the one to beat is Tante Rose, who shaped with plenty of promise behind Fantasize, in what looked a decent maiden at Leicester. She must have shown something at home, for she went of favourite that day, and showed plenty of speed until lack of peak fitness took its toll in the closing stages. She will strip fitter here and can put the experience gained that day to good use in this.
