made all, pressed over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, joined inside final furlong, just held on
tracked winner, challenged over 2f out, joined winner inside final furlong, just held
tracked leaders in 3rd, soon in rear and outpaced, ran green, reminders over 6f out, never a factor
tracked leaders in 4th, ran out on stable bend
held up in rear, soon in touch, left 3rd after stable bend, lost place 4f out
Champagne West was a smooth winner of an Irish point in November and now has his first run for Philip Hobbs. The market should reflect expectations and he is obviously one to take extremely seriously. However, MONKEY KINGDOM sets a fair standard here and the King's Theatre gelding has experience very much on his side after three bumper outings. He showed plenty of ability on his first two outings before seemingly having his limitations exposed in Listed grade at Cheltenham. This drop in class should serve him well and he gets the vote despite this being his first run of 2013. The market is likely to be the best indicator of confidence in the newcomers, of which Rouquine Sauvage and Dunmallet Belle make most appeal on paper.
Monkey Kingdom 11-2 (10-8) Tracked leading pair, lost place 3f out, ridden and weakened over 1f out, 7th of 11, 37l behind Anonis (11-0) at Cheltenham 2m NH flat Listed (1) sft in Nov.
Champagne West (IRE) 15-8 (11-7) Alw pr, went on with runner up 2out, qcknd well last, rcd green, won at Loughanmore 3m ire ptp hvy in Nov beating Sea Bear (11-7) by 12l, 9 ran.
Oscars Way (IRE) 9-4 (11-4) in a race won by Nelson's Legend (12-0) at Dingley 2m 4f ptp gs in May, 11 ran.
Tiger Maroon 20-1 (10-11) In touch, closed 10f out, lost place 6f out, tailed off, 6th of 8, well behind Bally Rone (10-11) at Ffos Las 2m NH flat (6) hvy in Feb.
Dunmallet Belle Kayf Tara filly out of Magic Mistress.
G'dai Sydney Choisir horse out of Silly Mid-on.
Rouquine Sauvage Loup Sauvage mare out of No Need For Alarm.
