held up, brief effort after 4th, soon weakened
chased leaders, went 2nd approaching 5th, ridden 2 out, kept on
keen, in touch, ridden after 3 out, soon weakened
prominent and keen, led 4th, ridden when not fluent last, driven out
held up, headway 5th, ridden and hung left from 2 out, no extra flat
held up, some headway and switched right after 3 out, pecked 2 out, never dangerous
led to 4th, weakened 3 out
mid-division, ridden 5th, soon weakened
The market may be the best guide here, and any support for either Earl Of Spectrum or Gift Voucher should be heeded. We favour the latter, with Coach Lane preferred of the Williams duo, and Moldavia worth a mention also. This is a very tricky race from a punting perspective, as although those to have been over timber already look nothing special, they do have the edge in experience. Coach Lane came up against one of Gary Moore's best when trounced by Nation State at Plumpton last time but had earlier shown progressive enough form to be considered. Moldavia made plenty of errors when making his debut over hurdles at Folkestone, but this all-weather winner has not had a great deal of racing so has scope to do better. Earl Of Spectrum has had just the one outing on the Flat in Germany but current connections have high hopes for him and he is sure to have been well schooled by Oliver Sherwood. So too is Gift Voucher who we nominate to make a winning start over obstacles. Enterprisingly-ridden by Kieren Fallon to open his account at Yarmouth in August, he will find conditions a lot more demanding here, but as a half-brother to Golan no less, may have the class to make his mark. Only time will tell, and in a race in which bets should be kept on the small side with so many imponderables to contend with, Gift Voucher is a tentative selection.
