held up in rear, ridden and hung left over 2f out, found nil
held up, headway over 3f out, led over 2f out, clear over 1f out
tracked leaders, weakened quickly over 3f out, soon tailed off, pulled up over 1f out
led, headed over 2f out, weakened final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden 2f out, stayed on same pace
with leader, ridden over 2f out, kept on same pace
Cotton Eyed Joe is going pretty well at present and looks capable of taking this from Pretty Demanding and Punta Galera. Alan Swinbank¿s charge stays at least this far and acts on most ground, including this. He does have to produce a lifetime best to win again here, but a mark of 74 is not that demanding and he wasn¿t far away at Hamilton last time, having won at Southwell in April. There is little else in red hot form here and that may help him to get his nose back in front. Pretty Demanding won a couple of races over 1m 3f last summer but has not yet fully convinced over this extra furlong and until she does the jury is out. Punta Galera has no concerns on that score, and does act on this ground. However he is hardly a consistent sort with just two wins from 22 attempts and he may again have to be content with some place money. Bull Market continues to struggle in handicaps, Burnbank has shown nothing for a couple of years, while Wyeth went well enough when runner up at Yarmouth last time and from 3lb higher he can again be competitive but for the winner we¿ll look no further than Cotton Eyed Joe.
Pretty Demanding (IRE) 14-1 (9-3) Towards rear, ridden along and headway over 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong, 4th of 15, 3 1/2l behind Pee Jay's Dream (8-7) at Thirsk 1m 4f hcp 0-75 (5) gs in Apr.
Bull Market (IRE) 20-1 (8-10) Tracked clear leader, weakened over 2f out, last of 9, 19l behind Polish Power (9-0) at Doncaster 1m 2f app hcp (4) gs.
Burnbank (IRE) 25-1 (8-0) Took keen hold, 4th straight, ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 5th of 15, 6l behind Stage Gift (9-7) at Epsom 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-105 (2) gf in Jun '06.
Wyeth 14-1 (9-4) Mid-division, pushed along 3f out, headway 2f out, kept on to go 2nd final furlong, no chance with winner, 2nd of 14, 2l behind Royal Premier (8-13) at Yarmouth 1m 3f hcp 0-60 (6) gf in Apr.
Punta Galera (IRE) 7-1 (8-8) Held up in rear, ridden and headway over 2f out, never on terms, 5th of 9, 9l behind Maneki Neko (8-10) at Thirsk 1m 4f hcp 0-75 (5) gf.
Bad Boy Al (IRE) 50-1 (9-3) Chased leaders, weakened over 4f, eased over 2f, last of 11, well behind Hadahoo (9-3) at Thirsk 1m 2yo mdn (4) hvy in Sept '06.
Cotton Eyed Joe (IRE) 5-1 (8-11) Towards rear, mid-division over 4f out, ridden over 3f out, headway to chase leaders over 1f out, kept on one pace final furlong, 3rd of 12, 2 1/2l behind Nero West (8-7) at Hamilton 1m 5f hcp 0-80 (4) gs.
