pulled hard, with winner, ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out
dwelt, held up, headway and switched left to outside 2f out, kept on final furlong
took keen hold, tracked leaders on rail, one pace when not clear run over 1f out, ridden and no impression inside final furlong
slowly into stride, held up, ridden 2f out, stayed on same pace
made all, set steady pace, quickened halfway, joined and hard pressed inside final furlong, kept on gamely
Richard Hannon's runners in nurseries are always worth a second look and Earl of Links may be good enough to get the better of Aberdovey and Tesary. The last mentioned is trained by Ed Dunlop whose two-year-olds tend to improve with racing and it would be no surprise to see the daughter of Danehill step up on her latest effort when justifying favouritism to win a weak maiden here over the minimum trip last time. Michael Bell's Redcar maiden winner Aberdovey had shown promise at Newmarket on his debut previously and is clearly progressing nicely. He rates a bigger threat than Simplify who, like a lot of David Loder's horses, has disappointed of late. Jamie Osborne's Lateral Thinker has been running well in maidens without winning and is another worthy of a mention, along with Sylvester Kirk's Ivana Illyich. The vote though goes to Earl Of Links. Richard Hannon's colt confirmed the promise of his debut run when landing a soft ground Warwick maiden in May. Not seen since, the son of Raise A Grand has been kept in reserve for nurseries and is taken to reward the patience of his connections.
