led, headed 2f out, soon ridden, faded inside final furlong
in touch, ridden well over 1f out, chased winner inside final furlong, no impression
raced keenly, tracked leaders, ridden and weakened over 3f out, tailed off
tracked leader, led 2f out, ridden 1f out, edged slightly left, ran on well
held up towards rear, pushed along 4f out, soon struggling
held up in rear, headway 3f out, stayed on same pace inside final furlong
NOBELIX can defy a 6lb penalty to repeat a recent course and distance win here, while Royal Amnesty looks the main danger. The selection was a three length scorer from Little Carmela last week, having dominated proceedings from some way out, and this track cleary suited him better than his recent Lingfield runs had. The manner of the win was decisive and he can go in again. Royal Amnesty was a winner here over 9f last time but he has won over this trip on turf at Musselburgh and so don't put a line through him just yet. A 4lb rise for that October success here means he needs another career best to follow up but that is a far from impossible task. This trip is well within range for Lochiel, but he has yet to win on the Polytrack and looks slightly too high in the weights, so we will wait for other days. Apache Fort and Morbick both need a favour from the assessor and we will take Nobelix to land the lucky last.
Nobelix (IRE) 9-1 (9-9) Made all, ridden clear 2f out, readily, won at W'hampton 1m 4f hcp 0-75 (5) pol beating Little Carmela (8-8) by 3l, 7 ran.
Quince (IRE) 12-1 (9-12) Chased leader to 7f out, remained close up, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 5th of 7, 10l behind Turban Heights (9-7) at Great Leighs 1m 6f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Nov.
Royal Amnesty 5-2fav (8-13) Slowly into stride, held up in rear, covered up and going well when not clear run over 1f out, switched right inside final furlong, ran on strongly to lead near finish, won at W'hampton 1m 1f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Oct beating Hold The Gol.
Lochiel 9-2 (8-13) In touch, ridden to go second over 1f out, not reach leader and lost 2nd inside final furlong, kept on towards finish, 3rd of 10, 1 1/2l behind Paktolos (9-10) at Kempton 1m 4f hcp (3) pol in Nov.
Apache Fort 9-1 (9-4) Close up, chased leader 7f out, ridden to lead over 2f out, came centre from over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 4th of 7, 4l behind Turban Heights (9-7) at Great Leighs 1m 6f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Nov.
Morbick 7-2 (11-1) In touch, led over 2f out, soon ridden, headed just over 1f out, soon beaten, lost 2nd last strides, 3rd of 13, 7l behind Hucking Heat (10-13) at W'hampton 1m 1f amt hcp (5) pol.
