dwelt soon tracked leader, pushed along 3f out, ridden over 2f out, stayed on under pressure to lead well inside final furlong
led, ridden and pressed over 2f out, edged left entering final furlong, driven and headed well inside final furlong
close up in last place, ridden over 4f out, weakened over 2f out, tailed off
close up, headway to challenge leaders over 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden 3f out, kept on same pace final furlong
Churt has little chance on official figures but the remaining quintet are closely matched. Calon Lad was beaten in a seller last week and his best effort came on Polytrack. Darakti has run poorly on his two latest starts after gaining a shock victory at Pontefract in July. Yasir was rated 8lb higher when landing a claimer at Catterick in August, his only start so far on soft ground, so he has to be a threat but Flamingo Beat has never raced in these conditions and his only victory came on very fast ground. VEXILLUM was running well on the Flat at this time a year ago and has been performing over hurdles this summer, scoring at Exeter in May. He needs further than this but with ground conditions likely to be testing he gets the vote.
Yasir (USA) 20-1 (9-7) Dwelt, in rear and outpaced, stayed on final furlong, 4th of 12, 9l behind Tatting (9-3) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-70 (5) pol.
Flamingo Beat 10-1 (9-3) Tracked leaders and keen, pushed along over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, kept on, 2nd of 17, 4l behind Highway Code (9-5) at Chepstow 1m 4f hcp 0-65 (6) gd in Sep.
Churt 125-1 (8-5) Held up towards rear, pushed along over 3f out, soon weakened, 10th of 11, well behind Icy Blue (8-10) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-60 (6) pol.
Vexillum (IRE) 9-2 (9-4) Held up towards rear, ridden and headway over 1f out, kept on to lead towards finish, won at Wolverhampton 1m 6f hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Oct '12 beating Jalors (9-7) by nk, 11 ran.
Calon Lad (IRE) 3-1 (8-11) Slow into stride and short of room soon after start, in rear, ridden over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, not troubled leaders, 4th of 9, 2 1/2l behind Banreenahreenkah (8-6) at Leicester 1m 2f 3yo sll (6) gf.
Darakti (IRE) 16-1 (9-0) Always in rear, 11th of 12, 46l behind Lady Of Yue (8-7) at Pontefract 1m 4f 3yo hcp 0-70 (5) gd.
