raced keenly, led to over 2f out, weakened, losing place when not much room on rails inside final furlong
slowly into stride, always in rear
chased leaders, hard ridden 3f out, soon outpaced
slowly away and reluctant to race early, always rear
chased leader, hard ridden and not quicken 2f out, kept on same pace from over 1f out
always behind
in touch, outpaced 3f out, ridden and stayed on well final furlong
tracked leaders, challenged from 2f out, led narrowly approaching final furlong, headed inside final furlong, unable to quicken and held towards finish
reluctant to enter stalls, in mid-division, not much room on rails 3f out, stayed from over 1f out, never going pace to reach leaders
soon outpaced in rear
always in rear
raced keenly, soon chased leaders, ridden and weakend quickly inside final 2f, eased when no chance final furlong
in touch, pushed along over 3f out, one pace final 2f
chased leaders, pushed along 4f out, weakened 3f out
mid-division, kept on under pressure final 2f, never able to challenge
Barry Hills had four entered at the five day stage but relies on Aqualung, who is chosen to get the better of Gravardlax and Magnetic Pole. This son of Desert King made a very promising debut at York last July when fourth behind Rule Of Law in a hot maiden. This is his first venture since, but his shrewd trainer is certain have him fit for his seasonal debut. Magnetic Pole hails from the powerful Michael Stoute yard and was a promising third on his only two-year-old outing at Leicester. The form has taken the odd knock but this son of Machiavellian is the type to improve with age. Of the others Brian Meehan's Gravardlax takes a step back into maiden company after being outclassed behind Privy Seal in the Easter Stakes at Kempton and has to be respected. But Aqualung went into the notebook following that first effort and deservedly gets our vote.
