tracked leaders, ridden to lead well over 1f out, soon clear
held up, ridden and headway over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong
held up, headway over 5f out, ridden 3f out, weakened well over 1f out
slowly into stride, pulled hard and soon chasing leaders, ridden and every chance over 1f out, stayed on, no chance with winner
behind, ridden and headway over 2f out, kept on inside final furlong, never dangerous
chased leaders, ridden and lost place 6f out, rallied over 1f out, soon no impression
led, ridden and headed well over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
prominent, ridden and every chance 2f out, soon weakened
A competitive contest, with no less than seven course winners in the field. The one's to concentrate on are the lightly race Ehab, Quiet Reading, the ultra consistent Arc En Ciel and the dropped in class Yakimov, who gets the vote. The selection first showed some promise here this time last year, when staying on into third place behind Del Mar Sunset, when ridden by an inexperienced rider. He clearly handles the surface, takes a drop in class and as an added bonus, can run off a 7lbs lower mark on the All-Weather, compared to his turf mark. Four times a winner here, Arc En Ciel is clearly at home on the Fibresand. However, he has yet to convince over this trip and that certainly counts against him in this. Martin Bosley has placed Quiet Reading really well. The six-year-old has only been out of the frame twice in his last 11 outings. However, he is off his highest ever mark now and looks to have his work cut out, even though he is a dual-course winner. The main threat could come from Ehab, who struggled to win a moderate maiden here back in January. That was a slowly run event, which didn't suit, and he is better judged on his third to prolific winner Te Quiero, off the same mark as today, here before Christmas. He has been given a break and comes into this a fresh horse, unlike most of his rivals and if anywhere near straight, he must go well.
