steadied start, dropped to inside, headway over 1f out, kept on but not reach leaders
started slowly, held up towards rear, headway and effort over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
tracked leader, led 5f out, ridden and headed well over 1f out, weakened quickly final furlong
mid-division, lost touch 3f out, tailed off final 2f
held up mid-division, effort 2f out, hard ridden over 1f out, weakened final furlong
tracked leader, led well over 1f out, hard pressed and headed final half furlong, readily held near finish
held up behind, under pressure 2f out, soon beaten
held up towards rear, effort to chase leaders 2f out, weakened final furlong
led until headed 5f out, stayed with leader, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
tracked leaders, not much room over 1f out, ran on again inside final furlong
held up in touch, headway well over 1f out, stayed on steadily to lead final half furlong, cheekily
The valuable feature has attracted a good line-up. Keep a close eye on the betting but, at this stage we are inclined towards Bonecrusher over Grand Passion, Bourgainville and Blue Sky Thinking. The David Loder-trained selection has split his time between Dubai and Britain during his career, only recently returning from the Middle East, and was good enough to win on Turf from a mark of 98 in July 2002. He's good value for slightly higher than that mark and has to be seriously considered from his powerful yard. Blue Sky Thinking has won four times from 11 starts, including over course and distance last time. He is worthy of consideration. Hail The Chief has won here over eight furlongs but has won over ten, that success coming in a very valuable Grade 2 handicap in America. He was disappointing at Wolverhampton last time though sound needs to bounce back to better ways. Bourgainville is pretty classy, having been placed at Group level on Turf. He was fourth in the Winter Derby itself last season so is, presumably, being trained with a similar campaign in mind this time around. If straight enough on his first run since September, he could go well. Eastern Breeze's course and distance win from a mark of 95 last time brings him into the equation but he is four pounds worse off for one-and-a-half lengths with Grand Passion based on that run. German maiden winner Coriolanus is one to watch for in the betting, and Vintage Premium won last season's John Smith's Cup from a mark of 101 but has never raced on this surface. As we say, a good race, and one in which we will opt for Bonecrusher.
