towards rear, struggling halfway, tailed off and pulled up before 11th
in touch, struggling when not fluent 10th, soon weakened
mid-division, pushed along halfway, outpaced 10th, kept on one pace from 2 out, no impression on winner
tracked leaders, left in lead 9th, blundered next, headed and jumped right from 11th, one pace under pressure
tracked leader, left disputing 2nd 9th, blundered badly next, ridden 3 out, one pace under pressure
mid-division, pushed along halfway, soon weakened, tailed off and pulled up before 10th
towards rear, pushed along halfway, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out
held up in touch, blundered badly 2nd, left disputing 2nd at the 9th, led 11th, stayed on strongly from next
held up in rear, struggling when hampered 9th, no impression
A poor race that should rest between Dragon King, Nosam and Karo De Vindecy, with our vote going to Dragon King. A consistent sort, who has been running over a fair bit further than this most of the time recently, Peter Bowen's gelding handled a similar distance well when winning at Market Rasen a couple of starts ago before finding the combination of weight and trip too much for him last time. The yard has a good record with runners they send all the way up here and despite being 8lb higher than that recent win, conditions are in his favour and there is nothing special to beat, so we will take a chance on him. Old man Nosam receives 1lb from the selection and is capable of putting in a big performance on ground he relishes. However, while he is coming down in the weights gradually, he has been better over further in recent times and at 14 this trip may be too short for him now. Of the others Karo De Vindecy does goes well at the trip and loves to hear his hooves rattle. He has become the victim of some consistency by going up in the weights gradually and the handicapper seems to have his measure at present, though we anticipate a bold showing nonetheless. Despite that, Dragon King has the right credentials to take the contest and he gets the nod.
