held up in rear, headway from over 1f out, kept on, nearest finish
led after 2f, ridden and headed 1f out, no extra
held up in touch, under pressure 2f out, soon beaten
early to post, in rear, not much room from 2f out, stayed on from over 1f out, nearest finish
held behind, under pressure 2f out, soon beaten
led for 2f, ridden and headed, soon behind
prominent until ridden and weakened 2f out
prominent until ridden and weakened 2f out, eased final furlong
held up in touch, effort 2f out, weakened over 1f out
in rear, not much room 2f out, kept on final furlong, nearest finish
tracked leaders, headway to lead final furlong, hard ridden, headed and no extra close home
with leaders, shaken up over 1f out, hard ridden to lead close home, all out
in touch until ridden and weakened final furlong
slowly into stride, towards rear, ridden along halfway, kept on one-paced from over 1f out, never dangerous
prominent, effort 2f out, one-paced final furlong
As ever, this valuable handicap looks really competitive and very few can easily be ruled out. The line up includes four last time out winners. Of them Jonny Ebeneezer and Baralinka both have more to do off their new marks, Mr Toad's success came in a claimer and this is much tougher, while Greenslades makes his debut in this company having won an Ayr maiden on his most recent start. Topweight Vanderlin has claims on the form book but Ian Balding has a shocking record at this meeting, as does Sir Michael Stoute who is represented by Green Line. Course and distance winner Madame Boulangere looks the pick of Richard Hannon's three runners but may be a touch too high in the weights at present. Tim Easterby's horses have hit a rich vein of form of late so it would be no surprise to see Night Runner run well, although a softer surface would help the son of Polar Falcon. The TEAMtalk selection, albeit a tentative one, then is for Pic Up Sticks. One of three runners in the race trained by Mick Channon, the grey has been running well of late and, although the colt has been finding one too good in a lot of those outings and has gone up in the handicap, he remains well treated. Granted luck in running, Dean Corby's mount could be the answer to the day's Showcase handicap.
