P2P.ie comment: Connections of Bardista were clearly confident of a good showing on debut from their charge when he made his first foray into competitive action as he was the subject of some positive market support before the off. Always in the first half of the field in the eight-runner contest, he was one of five newcomers in the line-up. With the race being a very slowly run affair, the Marienbard gelding was likely not ideally suited to the sprint finish which developed over the course of the final couple of furlongs, but it is to his credit that he still managed to finish third nonetheless, just 11-lengths behind a horse who has since been sold for £130,000 at the Goffs UK Aintree sale.