held up in touch on inside, headway tracking leading pair over 2f out, 2nd over 1f out, ridden to lead narrowly entering final furlong, held on, all out
led until ridden 2f out, chased leader until ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
slowly into stride, held up in rear, pushed along 3f out, headway on outside under pressure well over 1f out, modest 4th inside final furlong
held up tracking leading trio, pushed along over 3f out, ridden 2f out, plugged on in 3rd inside final furlong
took keen hold, soon tracking leaders, went 2nd 8f out, ridden to lead 2f out, narrowly headed entering final furlong, kept on trying, just failed
tracked leader 4f, tracked leaders, pushed along 3f out, weakened over 2f out
The progressive HAJAAM (NAP) has not finished improving on the evidence of last week’s success at Yarmouth. He bids for a five-timer under a penalty but made every yard for a cosy win and is preferred to Quothquan, who scored over 1m6f in heavy going at Salisbury last month. The unexposed Yamarhaba Malayeen may prove a bigger threat stepping up in trip after finishing third over a mile at Musselburgh on his handicap debut while better is expected from Al Hamdany back at this venue.
Al Hamdany (IRE) 20-1 (9-7) Raced wide held up, pushed along 3f out, ridden and headway 2f out, one pace final furlong, 5th of 10, 6l behind Ajman King (9-2) at Doncaster 1m 2f hcp (3) gs in Oct.
Hajaam (IRE) 9-4fav (9-10) Made all, pushed along 2f out, quickened clear inside final furlong, comfortable, won at Yarmouth 1m 3f hcp (5) gs in Oct beating First Quest (9-1) by 2 1/4l, 13 ran.
Yamarhaba Malayeen (IRE) 6-4fav (8-13) Keen in rear, pushed along over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, headway under pressure over 1f out, kept on towards finish, 3rd of 6, 2 1/4l behind Thomas Cranmer (9-5) at Musselburgh 1m hcp (3) gf in Jun.
Quothquan (FR) 14-1 (9-4) Held up in last pair, headway on outside chasing leaders 3f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, pressed inside final furlong, stayed on to assert close home, won at Salisbury 1m 6f hcp (5) hvy in Oct beating Fields Of Fortune (8-11) by 1l, 14 ran.
Flight Of Fantasy 6-1 (9-8) Chased leaders, weakened over 2f out, 8th of 12, 8 1/2l behind Villette (9-6) at Leicester 1m 2f hcp (5) gs in Oct.
Earthly (USA) 40-1 (8-11) Prominent, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 6th of 9, 34 1/4l behind Brandon Castle (10-0) at Chester 1m 6f hcp (4) hvy in Sep.
Fair Power (IRE) 16-1 (9-1) Towards rear, headway chasing leaders over 2f out, ridden and weakened inside final furlong, 9th of 14, 5 1/2l behind Golden Birthday (9-4) at Kempton 1m 4f hcp (4) pol in Oct.
