Soft

1:30 Newton Investment Management Stakes (Handicap) (2) (4yo+,0-100)

[off 1:30] £16,095.00, £6,105.00, £3,052.50, £1,387.50, £693.75, £416.25 (1m2f88y) 1m2½f

Comments In Running OR TS RPR

1 Zero Tolerance (IRE) (11) T D Barron 5 9-3 J P Spencer 15/2 96 96 112+

2 1¾ Pagan Sky (IRE) (6) J A R Toller 6 8-6 Lisa Jones 16/1 85 82 91

3 1½ Tiger Tiger (FR) (3) Jamie Poulton 4 8-12 3 J F Egan 4/1J 91 85 94

4 3 My Paris (1) K A Ryan 4 9-4 N Callan 10/1 97 85 95

5 nk Crow Wood (5) J J Quinn 6 8-11 R Winston 14/1 90 78 88

6 3½ Top Seed (IRE) (12) M R Channon 4 8-7 T E Durcan 14/1 86 67 78

7 16 Prince Nureyev (IRE) (8) B R Millman 5 8-9 S Drowne 25/1 88 37 53

8 7 Secretary General (IRE) (7) P F I Cole 4 8-9 T Quinn 16/1 88 23 41

9 1¼ Shahzan House (IRE) (10) M A Jarvis 6 9-4 p P Robinson 4/1J 97 29 48

10 1¼ Night Spot (4) R Charlton 4 8-4 K Darley 5/1 83 12 32

11 ½ United Nations (2) N Wilson 4 8-10 J P Murtagh 50/1 89 17 37

12 1½ Jazz Scene (IRE) (9) M R Channon 4 8-6 S Hitchcott 16/1 85 10 30

12 ran TIME 2m 17.01s (slow by 7.71s) TOTAL SP 114%

1st OWNER: The Hornsey Warriors Racing Syndicate BRED: Cliveden Stud Ltd TRAINER: T D Barron

2nd OWNER: The Gap Partnership

3rd OWNER: R W Huggins

TOTE TRIFECTA Part won. Pool: £1,466.18 - 0.80 winning units. WIN £6.60 PL £2.40, £5.60, £1.70; Ex £228.30; CSF £116.82; TRICAST £546.93Part won. Pool: £1,466.18 - 0.80 winning units.

ANALYSIS: The eagerly awaited start of the three-day meeting and the forecast of soft ground proved correct. Most jockeys in this opener agreed with the official going, while others added "sticky", "patchy," and "almost heavy" to the equation after a race which was run eight seconds slower than standard.

The one fact that emerged from this event was that coming from off the pace is difficult for most horses on such testing ground, and it took a canny front-running ride from Jamie Spencer to win this, hands down, aboard ZERO TOLERANCE. Quickly at the head of affairs, he slowed the tempo before setting sail for home in the straight and going clear before easing right down before the line to reduce a potential ten-length margin to less than two. Quite what the handicapper will make of this remains to be seen, but he will surely take into account the testing conditions.

Pagan Sky, proven in the mud, stayed on to secure second place, but he is flattered at finishing so close to the emphatic winner.

Tiger Tiger, with only a 3lb penalty for his Chester success, was unable to build on that victory and could only gallop home at the same pace.

My Paris is in good nick at present, but this trip, on this sort ground, proved beyond him.

Crow Wood ran a respectable race, but would appreciate a sounder surface.