tracked leaders, ridden and every chance over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
raced keen, held up in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong
led, headed over 3f out, stayed prominent, ridden over 1f out, weakening when slightly hampered inside final furlong
mid-division, ridden over 2f out, no impression
held up towards rear, ridden halfway, no impression
broke well, soon steadied and held up in rear, switched right 3f out, ridden and headway over 1f out, ran on to lead close home
slowly into stride, soon mid-division, ridden and headway over 2f out, not clear run over 1f out, switched left final furlong, stayed on close home
always towards rear
held up in touch, ridden 3f out, weakened over 1f out
with leader, ridden and led over 3f out, headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong
chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened and soon eased inside final furlong
held up in rear, switched left 2f out, headway over 1f out, stayed on final furlong, not reach leaders
chased leaders, ridden and every chance over 1f out, kept on same pace final furlong
close up, ridden and led over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, not quicken close home
slowly into stride, soon chasing leaders, ridden halfway, weakened over 1f out
held up in touch, ridden over 2f out, beaten when hampered inside final furlong
towards rear, ridden halfway, kept on final furlong, never nearer
slowly into stride, soon recovered to go prominent, ridden halfway, weakened well over 1f out
With 18 largely unexposed fillies lining up for this nursery over the seven-furlong trip this looks to be the most competitive race on the first day. Seven of them have their first start in this company, including Legality from the in form stable of Michael Bell. The daughter of Polar Falcon opened her account at Southwell last time over a mile and could be anything, although a drop back in distance may not be ideal. Pont Neuf, another handicap debutante, also ran on the all-wether on her most recent start - when chasing home Binanti - but the form of that race has already been further boosted by the winner so she may be well treated. Topweight Golden Nun has more to do off her new mark than when successful at Doncaster two outings ago and may struggle to concede weight away all round, while Robina Parkes has yet to prove conclusively that she stays this trip. Richard Hannon's juveniles always warrant respect and he saddles two, Garmoucheh and Peruvia who will be ridden by Michael Kinane and Ryan Moore respectively. Both jockey booking take the eye, for different reasons and it would be no surprise to see either run well but slight preference has to be for the Nick Littmoden-trained Ikan. Admittedly the daughter of Sri Pekan is more exposed than most of these but comes into the race in top form having atoned for an unlucky defeat at Bath previously when landing the odds in a similar race here last month. That was over six furlongs but the extra furlong should be of no hindrance and under a 6lb penalty she gets the TEAMtalk vote.
