soon led, ridden over 2f out, kept on well
slowly into stride, held up, ridden and headway over 3f out, switched left inside final furlong, kept on
held up in touch, ridden over 3f out, kept on inside final furlong, no extra close home
always towards rear, well behind final 5f
led briefly, chased winner, ridden and every chance 2f out, weakened inside final furlong
prominent, ridden over 3f out, one pace final furlong
keen, in touch, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
An interesting little maiden to open the card and one that can go to Horner, whose proven stamina for this sort of trip forces the vote in his favour over Always Waining and Blaze Of Colour, who are expected to give Paul Cole's charge the most to do. While expensive purchase Forged was a major disappointment on his racecourse debut and he already has plenty of improvement to find. However, his yard are beginning to step things up a gear now and he is one watch with interest now. On Cloud Nine is another to bear in mind as she ran very green on her debut but still managed to stay on for a gallant second. The daughter of Cloudings should be more responsive to the whip after that experience and she has a race within her somewhere along the line if she continues to progress as required. Always Waining is an obvious danger and can be expected to be a big threat now that he attempts this trip for the first time. Even so, the on-course bookmakers are unlikely to take any chances with Mark Johnston's runner and the value call may lay elsewhere. Which brings us back to Horner, who ran a blinder over a similar trip at Windsor earlier in the month. The Rahy colt has taken on some fair opposition in his five previous starts and has improved with each outing. The steady approach to him being upped in distance appears to be working the oracle and with Horner and this is a good opportunity for him to shine today.
