prominent, ridden headway 3 out, challenged 2 out, weakened after last
held up in mid-division, ridden 6th, soon weakened
towards rear, lost place before 5th, pulled up before 6th
held up last, some headway 5th, ridden and weakened before 3 out
chased leader, ridden after 3 out, one paced
held up in touch, ridden 6th, weakened before 3 out
mid-division, mistake 5th, headway 6th, ridden 3 out, challenged 2 out, switched right after last, ran on, not reach winner
held up towards rear, ridden 6th, soon weakened
mid-division, soon behind, tailed off
made all, soon clear, blundered 3 out, ridden approaching 2 out, stayed on from last, gamely
A decent contest to get the day underway. A 74 rated handicapper on the level, Thesis is an interesting recruit to timber, although he could have picked an easier race to make his debut. Desert Air was similar in ability to Thesis on the flat, but he already looks like being a better hurdler as he showed when just touched off at Huntingdon by Hasty Prince. The latter, a 90 rated handicapper on the flat, only just held on that day and Desert Air, with that experience behind him, will be hard to beat here, in receipt of weight off the other runners. Sud Bleu is a decent yardstick and will appreciate the return to novice company having faced some stiff tasks of late. He will be tough to beat, but the concession of 17lbs to the selection looks beyond him. Orangerie looks to have too much on in this, but should run well without being quite good enough to win, while stablemate Saby may do better when he goes handicapping. Gala Performance can be expected to leave his effort at Haydock behind in due course, but he may be more at home around a galloping track, rather than this sharp circuit.
