steadied start, held up and behind, headway on inside under pressure over 1f out, plugged on final furlong
tracked winner throughout, ridden to challenge 2f out, one pace and well held over 1f out
slowly into stride, raced keenly, soon tracking leaders, pushed along in 3rd over 2f out, one pace and no impression
slowly into stride, behind, kept on final furlong, almost snatched modest 4th, no threat
mid-division, headway chasing leaders under pressure over 2f out, ridden and weakened inside final 2f
wore hood to post, made all, ridden clear over 1f out, stayed on strongly, unchallenged
prominent early, raced keenly and soon steadied towards rear halfway, headway on outside over 2f out, no impression when ridden and hung left over 1f out, weakened
pulled hard and soon prominent, weakened inside final 3f, soon behind
raced keenly in mid-division, pushed along over 2f out, soon weakened
ANNO MAXIMO and Costello finished fourth over today’s trip at Leicester on their respective latest starts though neither was beaten far. Preference is for the former as that was his first outing of the year and, with a visor likely to bring further improvement, he gets the vote. Lafontaine has won over a mile on the all-weather but hasn’t raced since November while several of the remainder make their handicap debuts with Folie D'amour preferred to Toolmaker and Lovers' Gait.
Costello 20-1 (9-6) Held up in rear, headway over 3f out, driven over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 4th of 11, 1 1/4l behind Lady De Vega (9-2) at Leicester 1m 2f hcp (6) gd in Jun.
Anno Maximo (GER) 20-1 (9-4) Raced wide prominent, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, lost 3rd final strides, 4th of 12, 1 1/4l behind Soramond (9-4) at Leicester 1m 2f hcp (6) gd in Jun.
Folie D'Amour 10-1 (9-0) Slowly into stride, last pair, outpaced over 2f out, no chance after, last of 6, 9l behind Brideshead (9-0) at Kempton 1m 3f mdn fll stks (5) pol in Jun.
Global Agreement 20-1 (9-1) Rear of mid-division, headway over 1f out, never on terms, 6th of 11, 5 3/4l behind Magic Shuffle (9-10) at Bath 1m 2f hcp (6) gd in Jul.
Ampney Red 33-1 (8-5) Soon led, headed over 3f out, weakened from over 2f out, 10th of 11, 22 1/2l behind Tronada (9-12) at Chepstow 1m 4f hcp fll (5) sft in Jul.
Lovers' Gait (IRE) 66-1 (9-0) Towards rear, weakened over 2f out, 14th of 16, 25 1/4l behind Spring Of Love (9-0) at Newmarket 7f mdn fll stks (3) gs in Oct.
Lafontaine (FR) 11-2 (8-12) Led 1f, tracked leader, ridden to lead again briefly approaching 2f out, kept on one pace, 2nd of 8, 2 3/4l behind Treaty Of Dingle (9-6) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f (6) pol in Nov.
Toolmaker 150-1 (9-5) Keen tracked leaders, close up 5f out, ridden and edged left 2f out, soon weakened, last of 13, 18 1/2l behind The Turpinator (9-5) at Kempton 1m mdn stks (5) pol in Oct.
Mrs Tiffen 150-1 (8-12) Slowly into stride, always behind, 8th of 9, 16l behind Bankawi (9-5) at Thirsk 1m hcp (6) gs in Jun.