keen hold, tracked leaders, pushed along over 3f out, soon driven, no response and beaten
soon settled behind leaders, effort going well to lead well over 2f out, drew well clear entering final furlong, eased final 150 yards
set steady pace and led narrowly, pushed along and headed well over 2f out, soon outpaced and no chance with winner, lost 2nd well inside final furlong
soon with leader, pushed along and outpaced 3f out, stayed on to take moderate 2nd well inside final furlong, no chance
The Blue Riband Trial looks very competitive and only a narrow vote goes to Bull Run over Mutafanen, with Bowstring and Skidmark expected to acquit themselves well. Bull Run was too backward to race last year but made a big impact when beating Larkwing easily at Windsor on his debut just over a fortnight ago. The soft ground did not inconvenience David Loder's colt who should have come on for the run. He is a half-brother to Brazen and the dam Bulaxie won the Fred Darling and Lupe Stakes so he has a lot to live up to, but can go a bit towards enhancing his reputation here with a follow up win. Mutafanen opened his account impressively in handicap company on his return at Doncaster but this will be a tough test against some potential top-notchers, not least of whom is Bowstring who hacked up on her Folkestone introduction. Skidmark has been confined to the Lingfield Polytrack where he has picked up three wins altogether. David Elsworth would not run him here if he did not think that he was better than that, but all in all we feel that Bull Run has the most scope here and is the one to beat.
