not fluent, held up in touch, mistake and unseated rider 4th
held up in touch, headway to challenge 3 out, led after 2 out, left clear last, comfortably
tracked leaders, led 4 out, ridden and headed after 2 out, 2 lengths down, fell last
tracked leaders, mistake 4th, soon lost place, no danger after
mid-division, headway and effort approaching 3 out, one pace next
pulled hard towards rear, pushed along and outpaced 4 out, kept on one pace from 2 out, no chance with winner
towards rear, outpaced 4 out, one pace and beaten when mistake 2 out
towards rear, weakened approaching 4 out, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out
towards rear, weakened half way
led, headed 4 out, weakened next
with leader, ridden after 4 out, soon one pace, left 3rd last
Howard Johnson sets a poser here by saddling three runners Dalaram, Giuliani and Big Smoke, with the vote going to the first mentioned of that trio, who is taken to step up on his debut effort over hurdles. Useful over middle distances and staying trips on the flat for Sir Michael Stoute, the son of Sadler's Wells was highly tried on his hurdling debut when beating only two runners home in the race at Cheltenham won by Mondul. The four-year-old should have learned from that experience and as this represents a drop in class he gets the vote. Big Smoke, a 76-rated miler on the level when trained by Brian Meehan, should get the trip on this sharp track. Of more interest though is stablemate Giuliani, who was an unexposed middle distance handicapper on the flat with Luca Cumani. He has been given a break since last being seen and has to be respected. Jamie Osborne's Electrique was of a similar level of ability on the flat and is another worthy of a mention on his first start over hurdles, while Rookwith has shown ability in two starts over timber in Ireland. However, Dalaram was a class apart on the flat and is taken to show that here.
