held up, ridden and effort 4 out, weakened next
made all, hit 5th, ridden 3 out, stayed on strongly
always prominent, ridden to challenge 7th, kept on
always behind, hit last, saddle slipped, pulled up flat
tracked winner, ridden 7th, stayed on same pace from last
Major Shark is out to prove his recent Stratford running all wrong, and can make amends at the expense of Barcelona and Teorban in the finale. Jenny Candlish's charge was travelling well on the heels of the leaders when suddenly pulled up by the champion two days ago, and as he now lines up here, the suspicion is that it was the marathon trip at the Avon track that caught him out. Successful at Cartmel the time before, the shorter distance here will suit, and he has no more to do. McCoy switches to Hopbine so Alan O'Keefe who rode him at Cartmel, is back on board. Barcelona won a decent race at Ascot a couple of years ago and is still useful, but does have an absence of 182-days to shake off, while Teorban races from six-pounds out of the handicap. So, there are doubts about all of them really for one reason or another, but the fact that Major Shark is turned out again so quickly might be the key to this contest and he is the pick.
