A very restricted maiden auction race over 5f 161y on good ground.
King's Ciel has shown fair form on both his starts to date at Salisbury. On debut, over 6f on soft ground, Baker's youngster found himself in a tough race where the winner looks up to pattern class, the second & seventh winners since, while others have run creditably. This son of Septieme Ciel was stepped up in distance last time, dictating the pace but foundering in the final furlong. Six furlongs is probably more suiting and this is certainly a drop in class. There is always a worry that dropping in distance will dampen that speed but on balance this juvenile has fair win and place claims.
Two Bridges & Uncle Roger have similar form after being outpointed by Dixie's Dream, who may have been a good few lengths better than the finishing position. The former trained by Gary Moore took an age to get going before finishing with some purpose. There isn't a great deal between the two but I would have slight reservations that Two Bridges may be outpaced before running on.
Another juvenile with related form is Courtland Avenue. Johnny Portman's gelding isn't the biggest but ran pretty well on debut at Windsor. He was slow away - which certainly didn't help his cause - before getting competitive at the two furlong pole. Fallon eased down in the final 50 yards when his chance had slipped by. That was a fair race and almost finishing upsides Dixie's Dream gives him the edge over the above mentioned. There could be further improvement and probably the most proven ability in the field.
Conclusion: King's Ciel could be a tough nut to crack but there is a slight concern whether stepping down in distance will blunt his speed, although this trip looks more suitable than seven furlongs which seemed a stride to far. Courtland Avenue looks to hold an edge over Two Bridges & Uncle Roger.
HCE: ''A race of changing fortune as Uncle Roger looked the clear winner, when jinking and unseating his rider. Chandigarh picked up the pieces and as his trainer said ''won well!''. This didn't look much of a race. King's Ciel was struggling to go the pace and never looked happy, Courtland Avenue was there but faded. Two Bridges fell over backwards before the start, which didn't do her or her supporters any favours.''
