led 1f, tracked leader, led again 4f out, ridden and headed over 2f out, weakened 1f out
held up in rear, headway on outside over 2f out, soon ridden, stayed on well inside final to go 2nd towards finish, not reached winner
behind, switched left 3f out, headway over 2f out, ridden and stayed on final furlong
mid-division, driven to chase leaders over 2f out, never on terms
held up towards rear, switched left and headway 3f out, shaken up to lead 2f out, soon ridden, headed inside final furlong, lost 2nd towards finish
tracked leaders, ridden and every chance 2f out, one pace and no impression final furlong
mid-division, outpaced over 2f out, soon weakened
driven to lead after 1f, headed 4f out, soon lost place, weakened over 1f out
held up behind, ridden over 2f out, switched left 1f out, led inside final furlong, stayed on
tracked leaders, driven and outpaced 3f out, weakened over 1f out
Abayaan is the unknown quantity and needs a market check but at this stage our selection is STARLA DANCER, in preference to Pendragon. Our selection is 3lbs higher than when second here at the back end of 2009 but this race doesn't look quite so competitive, with a number of horses having questions to answer with regard to their ability to perform on turf. Richard Fahey's gelding arrives with no such concerns and seems to cope with any ground, so with a very promising jockey up he's taken to score. Pendragon has been improving at a modest level on Southwell's Fibresand surface, having shown little in plating class races on turf last year. However, he seems to have improved for dropping back to this trip and it'd be foolish to dismiss Brian Ellison's runner despite the fact this revised turf mark demands more improvement. He should be fine on the ground and can go close to adding to his recent tally. Abayaan is a very interesting handicap debutant from a yard that knows the time of day, so if support arrives it'd pay to take notice. The colt clearly knew his job when winning on debut, but the combination of a drop in trip and entirely different surface are enough for us to look elsewhere this time, although as a son of Saddler's Wells the ground should be fine. Trans Sonic is another who arrives in form, searching as he is for the four-timer. However, he's yet to win beyond a mile and can be taken on alongside Andhaar who isn't sure to appreciate the likely cut in the ground. Veiled Applause is one who should relish conditions but he only scraped home off 73 last season and consequently looks high enough in the weights, so we return to Starla Dancer for our idea of the winner.
Trans Sonic 7-2fav (8-3) Prominent, led after 2f , about 4 lengths clear over 2f out, ridden out, won at Southwell 1m hcp 0-85 (4) fbs beating Xpres Maite (8-11) by 2 3/4l, 12 ran.
Embsay Crag 8-1 (8-8) Slowly away, in rear, headway over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 10th of 15, 6l behind Luc Jordan (9-0) at Doncaster 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Oct.
Abayaan 3-1 (9-3) Slowly into stride, held up, headway on outside 6f out, chased leaders 3f out, soon second, led well over 1f out, driven inside final furlong, stayed on well, won at Southwell 1m 3f mdn stks (5) fbs in Dec beating Outrageous Request (9-3) by nk, 8 ran.
Starla Dancer (GER) 9-4fav (8-9) Prominent, led just over 1f out, headed close home, no extra, 2nd of 11, nk behind Nevada Desert (9-0) at Doncaster 1m 2f hcp 0-80 (4) gs in Oct.
Veiled Applause 8-1 (8-12) Pushed along early in rear, took closer order on outer halfway, ridden 4f out, hung left from over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 5th of 8, 6l behind Eseej (8-11) at Southwell 1m 3f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs.
Andhaar 8-1 (9-4) Tracked leaders, joined leader over 3f out, driven and every chance from 2f out, kept on inside final furlong, unable to quicken, 3rd of 7, 1 1/2l behind Iron Out (8-9) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Dec.
Wind Shuffle (GER) 12-1 (9-8) Led, headed over 3f out, not much room and soon lost place, weakened over 1f out, last of 7, 25l behind Distant Memories (9-2) at Ripon 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) sft in Jul.
Amazing Blue Sky 10-1 (9-4) Tracked winner until 4f out, behind final 2f, last of 8, 31l behind Eseej (8-11) at Southwell 1m 3f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs.
Rosbay (IRE) 14-1 (8-5) Mid-division, ridden and headway 2f out, kept on one pace after, 4th of 15, 8l behind Veiled Applause (8-6) at York 1m 2f app hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Oct.
Hallstatt (IRE) 14-1 (8-9) Held up towards rear, headway over 1f out, kept on same pace, 4th of 7, 1 3/4l behind Bavarica (8-4) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) pol.
Pendragon (USA) Evensfav (9-6) Raced wide, held up, progress to track leaders halfway, chased leader over 2f out, led over 1f out, ridden and ran on final furlong, won at Southwell 1m hcp 0-60 (6) fbs beating Bold Diva (9-0) by 3 1/2l, 13 ran.
