slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway over 2f out, soon chasing leaders, weakened inside final furlong
settled in mid-division, driven and headway halfway, chased leaders over 1f out, ran on to lead well inside final furlong, all out
held up in rear, pushed along halfway, soon no impression
chased leaders, lost place well over 1f out, eased
led, hard ridden over 1f out, soon hung right, headed inside final furlong, no extra
mid-division, under pressure 2f out, never on terms
held up in rear, switched right and effort over 1f out, stayed on well, nearest finish
held up in touch, edged left after 1f, effort over 1f out, soon hard ridden, weakened inside final furlong
held up in rear, under pressure before halfway, eased well over 1f out
chased leader, hard ridden to challenge over 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong
in touch, hampered after 1f, soon pushed along, headway over 2f out, soon chasing leaders, ran on inside final furlong, never reached winner
chased leaders, ridden to challenge over 1f out, led inside final furlong, soon headed and no extra
always behind
chased leaders, effort over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
Cornus is on a real roll but he might be vulnerable under his latest penalty so preference is for INTERNATIONALDEBUT ahead of Red Cape and Elusive Sue. Paul Midgley's charge is a course winner and has been dropped in the weights for his latest flop at Doncaster. The shorter trip today will suit and with his second to Castles In The Air at Pontefract in April reading well he is expected to go close. If his hold-up style of racing leaves him out of luck late on, it may be Cornus who takes advantage. He is another who needs a strong pace to chase but he tends to lay up a bit handier than the selection and even at the age of seven he looks to be improving. Harlech Castle is another chasing a fourth win in a row and is respected with Ryan Moore booked for the ride however all of his improvement has come at Southwell, Red Cape was a gallant second to Cornus at Pontefract and should be better suited by this track, whilst Atlantic Story needs a market check as this well-handicapped horse has Keiren Fallon on-board for the first time. Gap Princess is two from three recently but she looks a Catterick specialist, River Falcon needs rain and lots of luck, whilst Elusive Sue is better than she showed at Carlisle last time out and is respected on this easy track over six furlongs. The visored-first-time Courageous is tremendously well-handicapped, Marvellous Value has been off the track for an age, whilst Saucy Brown and Tajneed are respected for David Nicholls but both may have different targets later in the year. With the consistent Tiddliwinks respected back from a break and potentially very well-handicapped back on the turf, it is only tentatively that we side with Internationaldebut.
Tiddliwinks 11-10fav (9-4) Chased leaders, hard ridden to challenge over 1f out, soon no impression, 3rd of 5, 4 1/2l behind Prohibit (9-4) at Kempton 6f stks (3yo+) (3) pol in Mar.
Hotham 20-1 (9-6) Chased leaders, no impression from 2f out, 13th of 25, 13l behind Invincible Ash (9-3) at Curragh 6f hcp gf in Jun.
Saucy Brown (IRE) 12-1 (9-7) Tracked leaders, ridden to challenge well over 1f out, soon one pace, 5th of 16, 6l behind Day Of The Eagle (9-1) at Doncaster 7f hcp 0-90 (3) gf in Jun.
Marvellous Value (IRE) 50-1 (9-8) Held up far side group, headway over 2f out, stayed on nearest at finish, 5th of 27, 6l behind Against The Grain (9-0) at Ayr 6f hcap (2) hvy in Sep '08.
Courageous (IRE) 7-1 (9-3) Led narrowly, headed over 2f out, soon ridden, weakened inside final furlong, 9th of 13, 10l behind Tajneed (9-3) at Ripon 6f hcp 0-95 (3) gd in Jun.
Cornus 9-1 (9-5) In touch, headway 2f out, chased leaders over 1f out, riddden and ran to lead final 100 yards, won going away, won at Pontefract 6f hcp 0-90 (3) gf beating Red Cape (9-1) by 1 1/2l, 9 ran.
Internationaldebut (IRE) 9-1 (9-5) Bumped start, mid-division, ridden over 2f out, soon short of room, weakening when hampered over 1f out, eased, 15th of 16, 16l behind Day Of The Eagle (9-1) at Doncaster 7f hcp 0-90 (3) gf in Jun.
Atlantic Story (USA) 10-1 (9-6) Towards rear centre, weakened 2f out, last of 13, 39l behind Jonny Mudball (9-9) at Newcastle 6f hcp 0-100 (2) gf in Jun.
Harlech Castle 7-4fav (8-13) Always prominant, chased leader over 2f out, led 1f out, driven out, redily, won at Southwell 6f hcp (0-90) (3) fbs in Feb beating Bel Cantor (8-5) by 1 1/4l, 6 ran.
Red Cape (FR) 5-1 (9-1) With leaders, went 2nd inside final 2f, ridden to challenge and led inside final furlong, headed and no extra final 100 yards, 2nd of 9, 1 1/2l behind Cornus (9-5) at Pontefract 6f hcp 0-90 (3) gf.
Discanti (IRE) 7-1 (9-6) Held up towards rear, pulled hard early, not much room over 1f out, soon switched left, ridden inside final furlong, one pace, 6th of 9, 4 1/2l behind Indian Skipper (8-11) at Redcar 6f hcp 0-95 (3) gf in Jun.
Gap Princess (IRE) 7-2fav (9-7) Held up, good headway on inside from over 1f out, led inside final furlong, ran on, comfortably, won at Catterick 6f hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jun beating Sir Nod (9-11) by 2 1/2l, 8 ran.
River Falcon 25-1 (8-5) In rear centre group, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, no impression with stands side group, 7th of 13, 14l behind Jonny Mudball (9-9) at Newcastle 6f hcp 0-100 (2) gf in Jun.
Elusive Sue (USA) 6-5fav (9-8) Tracked leader until ridden approaching final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 5, 4 1/2l behind Cheers For Thea (9-10) at Carlisle 7f flls hcp 0-85 (4) gf in Jun.
Tajneed (IRE) 6-1fav (10-1) Chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened entering final furlong, 7th of 18, 3 1/2l behind Baby Strange (9-4) at Doncaster 6f hcp 0-95 (3) gd in Jun.
