slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway over 2f out, never on terms
mid-division, headway over 3f out, chased leaders over 2f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, stayed on well
slowly into stride, headway under pressure over 1f out, weakened final furlong
chased leaders, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on under pressure
slowly into stride, always in rear
tracked leaders, outpaced over 2f out, headway over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
pulled hard with leader, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
led until over 1f out, faded final furlong
Nonrunner
Bond Artist came here last February after a three-month break and won a handicap over the trip but hasn't been seen since running poorly in June. The veteran BENANDONNER was in top form around this time a year ago and looked on the way back with a very good effort at Kempton last month so there could yet be more successes to add to his dozen so far. Warden Bond has won five races in his career, all on this track, including a poor race a couple of weeks ago for which he's been raised 4lb. Neil Mulholland has acquired Lions Charge from Ireland where he had 17 runs without winning, almost all of them over much longer trips. Look Here's Al didn't get the best of runs here last month and could be the pick of the remainder.
Bond Artist (IRE) 12-1 (9-3) Raced wide always in rear, last of 10, 22l behind Carrera (9-5) at Lingfield 1m hcp (6) gf in Jun.
Benandonner (USA) 16-1 (9-6) Tracked leaders, led 3f out, hard ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 11, 1 3/4l behind Barwah (8-11) at Kempton 1m hcp (6) pol in Dec.
Poor Duke (IRE) 12-1 (9-1) Slowly into stride, mid-division, headway under pressure over 2f out, soon weakened, 9th of 10, 13l behind Stamp Duty (8-7) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-60 (6) in Dec.
Warden Bond 4-1fav (9-6) Chased leaders, driven to lead over 1f out, stayed on well under pressure, won at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-50 (7) beating Spokesperson (9-7) by nk, 12 ran.
Lions Charge (USA) 8-1 (9-7) Led early, tracked leader in 2nd, ridden to lead again 2f out, under pressure and challenged 1f out, headed 100 yards out, no extra, 3rd of 14, 1 1/4l behind Master Melody (9-2) at Dundalk 1m 4f hcp 47-65 pol in Oct.
Milly's Secret (IRE) 16-1 (8-8) With leader, led well over 2f out, headed over 1f out, weakened quickly entering final furlong, 8th of 10, 9l behind Mops Angel (8-12) at Wolverhampton 6f hcp 0-70 (5).
Thrtypointstothree (IRE) 100-1 (8-13) Led, headed 3f out, weakened 2f out, 11th of 12, 24l behind Persona Grata (8-11) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f mdn auc stks (5) in Oct.
Look Here's Al 9-1 (8-10) Towards rear, pushed along 2f out, ridden and stayed on inside final furlong, nearest finish, 4th of 10, 4 1/2l behind Cherry Tiger (9-0) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (6) in Dec.
Just Five (IRE) 16-1 (8-11) Held up towards rear, ridden over 2f out, hung left and well beaten 1f out, 9th of 10, 12l behind Jumbo Prado (9-7) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f app hcp 0-55 (6) in Aug.
