dwelt, soon prominent, headway to lead narrowly 2f out, soon headed, one pace final furlong
slowly into stride, in rear, some headway 2f out, never nearer
led 2f, stayed prominent, led well over 1f out, hard ridden, stayed on well, headed post
held up and behind, wide, never dangerous
prominent, joined leaders and every chance 2f out, soon ridden, one pace final furlong
held up towards rear, stayed on over 1f out, nearest finish
held up in touch, outpaced well over 1f out, ran on well final furlong
tracked leader, led after 2f, ridden and headed 2f out, soon weakened
took keen hold, always behind, never dangerous
Not a great deal for backers to go on in the opener with none of the 12 runners having raced more than twice so far. However, it looks to provide a fairly straightforward task for the Barry Hills-trained Down Memory Lane who shaped encouragingly on his only previous outing when finding just Geoff Wragg's Mezuzah too good in a heavy ground Doncaster maiden in November. If fit enough following two months off, the son of Pursuit Of Love should be too good for his rivals. Jeremy Noseda's Ephesus has run with credit on both starts here in seven furlong maidens but is not certain to appreciate the longer trip. Nick Littmoden's Red Beaufighter needs to improve on the form shown in mile maidens here and at Southwell to take a hand and a bigger danger from those to have raced previously be Hugh Morrison's Relative Hero who was down the field in a decent maiden won by Cap Ferrat at Newbury on his debut. Clive Brittain introduces Santando, a son of Hernando, while the Victory Note gelding Uncle Max represents the stable of Jamie Osborne. Neither would need to be too special to win first time out, and a market move for either would be interesting, but we are happy to side with the Hills horse.
