tracked leader in 2nd, led narrowly from halfway, headed entering straight and soon no extra, moderate 3rd over 1f out
settled in mid-division, 5th halfway, headway to go 2nd entering straight, soon ridden and no impression on winner, kept on same pace final furlong
tracked leaders in 3rd, good headway to challenge and led entering straight, soon asserted, driven out to maintain advantage final furlong
held up in rear, 5th approaching straight, ridden and no extra from 2f out
led, narrowly headed halfway, ridden and no extra early straight, weakened
tracked leaders, 4th halfway, no extra and weakened approaching straight, tailed off
towards rear, 7th but in touch approaching straight, no impression on first 2 from 2f out, kept on one pace
mid-division on inner, 6th halfway, pushed along approaching straight, no extra from 2 out
WANDERING AENGUS beat subsequent Cheltenham winner Cheltenian on his racecourse debut at Punchestown last October and reverts to a bumper after a reasonable effort over hurdles a fortnight ago. He'll have come on for that run and can see off some potentially smart performers including Sands Cove, a very easy debut winner at Roscommon before disappointing when odds-on at Galway. Van Diemens Land battled home in a four-year-old bumper at Gowran and must be considered while Mumbo Jumbo was strongly supported when making a winning start at Gowran and wasn't disgraced in Listed company at Cheltenham. Neither Maller Tree nor the once-raced Kingclip can be discounted in a very open-looking finale.
Wandering Aengus 5-1 (11-12) Tracked leaders, 6th halfway, ridden and no impression in 4th entering straight, kept on one pace, 5th of 20, 12l behind Please Talk (11-12) at Punchestown 2m 4f mdn hdl.
Maller Tree 12-1 (11-3) Chased leaders, ridden into 3rd approaching straight, 2nd over 1f out, kept on without matching winner inside final furlong, 2nd of 7, 3/4l behind Shu Lewis (11-5) at Tipperary 2m N H flat sft in Oct.
Mumbo Jumbo (IRE) 7-1 (11-1) Raced keenly, held up towards rear, not much room on inside and stumbled over 6f out, outpaced over 3f out, headway under pressure over 1f out, kept on same pace, no impression, 6th of 12, 9l behind One Term (11-4) at Cheltenham 2m Listed NH flat (1) gs in Nov.
Sands Cove (IRE) 4-5fav (11-10) Soon chased leader, closed from 5f out, lost place over 2f out, soon no impression and kept on same pace, 3rd of 7, 17l behind Bridgets Pet (11-3) at Galway 2m N H flat hvy in Oct.
Van Diemens Land (USA) 5-1 (11-3) Chased leader, closed 6f out, on terms from 5f out, led approaching straight, looked in control from over 1f out, holding on at the finish, won at Gowran Park 2m 4yo nhf sft in Oct beating Koko Lane (11-10) by nk, 13 ran.
Inaworldofmyown (IRE) 16-1 (11-4) Mid-division, ridden along 4f out, kept on same pace and some late progress straight, 4th of 16, 13l behind Incas Article (11-9) at Clonmel 2m N H flat in Jun.
Kingclip (IRE) 8-1 (11-0) Keen hold in rear, some headway over 4f out, kept on without threatening under pressure from before straight, 5th of 19, 11l behind Jenari (11-2) at Gowran Park 2m 4yo nhf gd in Apr.
Khaleesi (IRE) 20-1 (10-11) Prominent, 4th under 4f out, no extra straight, 8th of 11, well behind Sands Cove (11-9) at Roscommon 2m 4yo nhf hvy in Sep.
