made most, hard driven and kept on final furlong, caught near finish
prominent over 4f
pressed leader, every chance and kept on under pressure final furlong, not pace of winner near finish
behind, not clear run briefly 2f out, headway under pressure to chase leading pair 1f out, ran on to lead near finish
started slowly, outpaced in rear, switched left to outside over 2f out, ran on final furlong, finished well
in touch, driven along halfway, stayed on same pace final 2f
steadied rear, not clear run briefly 2f out, kept on final furlong, never able to challenge
in touch, ridden 2f out, stayed on same pace
We are going to suggest a shortlist here of Toppling, Drury Lane, Yorkies Boy and Minimum Bid, with the vote going to Minimum Bid. The selection looked a lot more like his old self when second at Kempton last time. He has actually been dropped four pounds for that run, should get the lead he needs in the race and, in a weakish race, has to hold a chance if repeating that last effort. Toppling won from the same mark at Nottingham last June as he runs off today, so that brings him into things, and, amazingly, Drury Lane won from a mark of 77 last June, also at Nottingham, so has plummeted in the weights but, that said, has shown enough recently to offer up hope of a decent run. Yorkies Lad is very well-weighted based on his 2001 form and, even though he is a light of former years, is still capable of putting up a good show at this level. Of the others, Ziet d'Alsace could be interesting back at Brighton's festival meeting next month, the maiden Jagged has got Frankie booked and races in blinkers for the first time, Akiramenai has won here but it was on the all-weather, and it will be interesting to see how Choristar fares back at six having seemed to be suited by seven. Overall, though, for today, we will side with Minimum Bid.
