held up, smooth headway to track leaders over 3f out, ridden and soon one pace
mid-division, smooth headway to challenge winner over 2f out, ridden and soon one pace
tracked winner, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
driven to lead after 1f, clear halfway, ridden over 2f out, soon challenged and driven clear inside final furlong
mid-division, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
tracked leaders and keen early, saddle slipped after 1f, pulled up after 4f
mid-division, ridden over 3f out, kept on one pace
mid-division, ridden over 3f out, kept on one pace
mid-division, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
mid-division, ridden and beaten over 6f out
A relatively small field take to the turf for the concluding race, and while good form is rare it should still be a competitive end to proceedings, and for us MASTER NIMBUS gets the nod, with Grandad Bill and Patavium also making the shortlist. The selection has been away from the track since November of last year but he was in a decent vein of form before the break. His last outing saw him run creditably and was not disgraced in finishing third. He should have trained on and any improvement on last terms form should see him do well. Grandad Bill has the benefit of having raced twice already this year, but he has so far failed to hit the type of form he was in towards the end of last year. He was a course and distance winner when last here but a repeat looks beyond him and a finish just behind the selection looks to be in the offing. Patavium, who had been absent for a year before his last outing returned with an encouraging run, finishing third at Hexham. A repeat of that result should see him make the frame here but he may struggle to be amongst the front two. There is very little in the way of good form amongst the rest and market referral is advised. Dimashq was poor when last here but should have come on a little bit for that run but a finish among the minors looks unlikely. Master Nimbus gets the verdict in what should be an interesting finale.
Grandad Bill (IRE) 8-1 (8-7) Held up, ridden over 2f out, kept on from over 1f out, no impression, 6th of 11, 8l behind Chookie Hamilton (7-9) at Hamilton 1m 5f hcp 0-80 (4) gd.
Master Nimbus 3-1 (9-2) Held up and raced wide, headway 3f out, one pace final 2f, 2nd of 6, 11l behind Red Fama (8-9) at Beverley 1m 4f hcap (5) sft in Aug.
Montchara (IRE) 12-1 (9-5) Held up in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened well over 1f out, 11th of 13, 11l behind Blu Manruna (8-12) at Folkestone 1m 2f hcap (6) gf in Sep '07.
Monte Pattino (USA) 80-1 (9-13) Soon led, strong paced, headed halfway, soon under pressure, stayed on same pace, 4th of 8, 12l behind Ostaadi (8-10) at Southwell 1m 3f mdn stks (4) fbs.
Grail Knight 100-1 (7-12) Led, ridden over 3f out, headed over 2f out out and soon weakened, 9th of 10, 18l behind That'll Do Nicely (9-5) at Musselburgh 1m 6f hcp 0-70 (5) gd.
Patavium (IRE) 9-1 (8-13) Close up on outside, outpaced over 2f out, soon weakened, 9th of 11, 18l behind Music Review (9-2) at Beverley 1m 4f hcap (6) gd in Aug '07.
Wulimaster (USA) 14-1 (8-8) Dwelt, in rear, headway on outside over 2f out, soon ridden, weakened 1f out, 9th of 13, 19l behind Bijou Dan (9-12) at Catterick 2m hcp 0-65 (6) gf.
Dimashq 15-2 (8-4) Raced keenly, tracked leader, ridden and lost place over 2f out, weakened, 6th of 7, 20l behind Don't Stop Me Now (9-6) at Musselburgh 2m app hcp 0-70 (5) gf in Apr.
Dance Sauvage 10-1 (10-2) Held up, ridden over 3f out, soon mid-division, no impression, 7th of 13, 12l behind Dimashq (9-11) at Musselburgh 1m 5f Am hcp (6) gf in Jul.
Countrywide Sun 50-1 (7-9) Mid-division, weakened over 2f out, last of 10, 38l behind Love Angel (8-4) at York 1m 2f app hcp (5) gf in Sep '05.
