in touch, ridden over 1f out, ran on strongly, close home
tracked leader, led just over 1f out, soon ridden, kept on well, headed final stride
prominent, ridden over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong
behind, stayed on final furlong, not troubled leaders
held up behind, switched right to far side 4f out, switched left and headway over 1f out, ran on strongly, led on line
slowly into stride, always behind
led, ridden and headed over 1f out, kept on
chased leaders until weakened 1f out
never better than mid-division
always towards rear
A typical Sandown sprint to end with, ultra competitive, but with the stalls on the far side, it will pay to stick with something drawn close to the rails. That brings the likes of Hard To Catch, Fly More and Nivernais to the fore, with the latter getting the verdict. Henry Candy's charge has done most of his racing over six-furlongs, but he is not short of pace and with Hard To Catch drawn next to him, he is ensured of a good lead. Hard To Catch comes into this at the top of his form and only just failed to hold on at Brighton, having given plenty of weight away to a couple of in-form rivals. He will be difficult to keep out of the frame. Milton Bradley, who took this last year with Eastern Trumpeter, relies on Fly More, who is being kept busy and is holding his form well. This stiff five-furlongs should prove ideal for him. Barrantes turned in a career best from a poor draw at Newmarket last weekend, but looks to have plenty to do from stall 2 here, while another to have been done no favours by the draw is Tomthevic, who has gone well here in the past. Coffee Time is a professional loser and couldn't be put forward, despite his ideal draw, so Nivernais is the choice in what looks a competitive finale.
