held up and pulled hard, headway to lead after 2f, headed over 4f out, weakened over 3f out
held up, headway over 6f out, ridden and hung left over 3f out
led 2f, stayed promineent, led again over 3f out, ridden clear over 2f out, headed and no extra towards finish
held up and keen, ridden and headway over 2f out, ran on to lead towards finish
prominent, led over 4f out, ridden and headed over 3f out, weakened over 2f out
tracked leaders, lost place 7f out, stayed on final furlong
mid-division, headway 6f out, ridden 4f out, stayed on, one pace
As with many bumpers, the betting should be given the once over beforehand but, without that - and probably with it too - our vote goes to Cantgeton ahead of Back Among Friends. The selection was narrowly beaten at Wetherby on his racecourse debut and, sure to have derived a lot of benefit from that run, looks set to run a mighty race here for the Johnson-Pipe-Murphy team. Back Among Friends created a good impression when scoring over course and distance on his debut and looks set to go well. However, it is often hard for bumper winners to carry a penalty to victory and that sways us to side with Cantgeton. Of the others, Eaton Hall has shown promise in Irish points, It's In The Stars could be interesting from the Henry Daly stable, and Padre, trained by Mark Pitman, who has produced some good bumper winners over the years, are all granted some respect but, for the winner, we are more than happy to side with Cantgeton.
