chased leader, jumped left 1st, led 10th, clear 4 out, unchallenged
held up towards rear, ridden and headway approaching 10th, blundered 11th, stayed on same pace 2 out
prominent, ridden and headway 11th, chased winner 3 out, stayed on well from 2 out
held up in touch, headway 12th, chased winner 4 out, weaken 3 out
held up towards rear, ridden and headway 10th, mistake 11th, stayed on from 3 out (nearest finish)
prominent, ridden after 9th and lost touch, tailed off when pulled up before 4 out
tracked leader, mistake 6th, ridden 11th, stayed on from 4 out
held up towards rear, ridden after 9th, soon weakened
always behind, no impression
held up towards rear, ridden and headway 11th, weaken approaching 2 out
A decent contest here with some good money up for grabs and plenty of interest as a result, and we will take Saffron Sun to complete a hat-trick, with Take The Stand and Wuxi Venture perhaps the ones to complete the frame. Saffron Sun comes into the race with two confidence boosting wins over three miles and then two-and-a-half at Exeter and Stratford, and although he needs a career best effort to win this, he has more ticks in the right boxes than the rest of them. For example, trip and ground will both suit him, he jumps well and is generally very consistent and so with the others all having more doubts about them, he can overcome his mark to score. At the other end of the weights, Take The Stand has to concede all around but can still run a big race. Peter Bowen's charge is another who has to run a p.b. to land this, and although he did run well over course and distance on his penultimate start, his most recent run suggests that this trip is not really far enough for him and with doubts about him with cut he is overlooked this time. Richard Fahey's yard are flying at the moment and he doesn't send many down here, so it could pay to take note with Wuxi Venture. Admittedly the gelding is out of the handicap, but trip and ground will suit him and he could make the frame at a price. There are others who you could make a case for, but with doubts over the ground for the likes of Grimes and Gladiateur IV and the trip for Tango Royal, we are happy to stick with Saffron Sun to take the feature.
