soon chasing leader, ridden to lead over 4f out, headed over 3f out, weakened quickly
held up, headway over 4f out, led 3f out, soon ridden, headed and not quicken inside final furlong
pulled hard tracking leaders, ridden 3f out, no extra inside final furlong
always towards rear
led early, in touch, pushed along over 7f out, led over 3f out, soon ridden and headed, driven to lead again inside final furlong, ran on
held up, headway over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, not quicken inside final furlong
soon led, ridden and headed over 4f out, weakened quickly
This is the feature event of the afternoon and with Michael Bell's horses in such good form Shabernak has to be considered despite his long lay off, however on this occasion we will side with Winged D'Argent, with Coventina the most likely danger. Mark Johnston's four-year-old made great strides last season with victories at Ayr and Doncaster. He looked just as good, if not better this season, when finishing an excellent third to Cold Turkey at Kempton. There seemed to be a bit left for Mark to work on and he should step up on that performance. Coventina finished two lengths ahead of the selection in that Kempton contest, but is three pounds worse off today. It should be close between them, but the Dunlop horse looked fully primed for that event and may not have much improvement to come. Shabernak landed two decent races in 2003, but has obviously had training problems, if back to his best he should figure in the finish. Stable companions Tanwir and Frank Sonata add even more interest to a fascinating contest, but Winged d'Argent should be capable of taking first prize.
Darasim (IRE) 7-2 Prominent, led briefly straight, one pace, 6th of 8, 12l behind Westerner at Longchamp 2m 4f Grp 1 gd in Oct.
Frank Sonata 12-1 In touch, pushed along 4f out, stayed on to take poor 2nd over 1f out, no chance, 2nd of 8, 15l behind Orcadian at Newbury 1m 4f Grp 3 (A1) sft in Oct.
Shabernak (IRE) 9-1 In touch, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out, 16th of 36, 20l behind Landing Light at Newmarket 2m 2f hcp (B) gf in Oct '03.
Tender Trap (IRE) 6-1jt-fav Towards rear, headway 7f out, ridden over 3f out, no impression final 2f, 10th of 18, 9l behind Fantasy Hill at Chester 2m 3f hcp (B) gf in May '02.
Winged d'Argent (IRE) 3-1fav Raced in 4th place, reminders 7f out, hard driven 4f out, stayed on under pressure to take 3rd inside final furlong, 3rd of 8, 2 1/2l behind Cold Turkey at Kempton 2m hcp gs in Mar.
Coventina (IRE) 5-1 Held up, headway to chase winner over 1f out, kept on under pressure final furlong, never able to challenge, 2nd of 8, 1/2l behind Cold Turkey at Kempton 2m hcp gs in Mar.
Tanwir 3-1 Tracked leader in 2nd, close 3rd 5f out, ridden to lead 2f out, kept on under pressure final furlong, all out, won at Downpatrick 1m 4f stk gs in Aug beating Sportsticketing by a shd, 5 ran.
