mid-division, ridden over 2f out, headway on inner over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong
slowly into stride, behind, ridden 3f out, stayed on final 2f, never on terms
led, ridden over 3f out, kept on inside final furlong, caught post
slowly into stride, always towards rear
mid-division, ridden over 2f out, weakening when not much room and slightly hampered over 1f out
prominent, ridden over 2f out, kept on final furlong
towards rear, ridden 3f out,headway and switched left over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong
mid-division, ridden over 3f out, well over 1f out
in touch, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
slowly into stride, always behind
chased leaders, ridden to go 2nd well over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong to lead post
prominent, ridden over 2f out, one pace final furlong
chased leader, ridden 3f out, weakened well over 1f out, soon eased
Free Option takes a hefty drop in class here and is weighted to get his head in front; Gold Guest and Mister Rambo may give him most to do. Ben Hanbury's eight-year-old faced a stiff task in a valuable handicap at Doncaster last time, but had earlier finished a close third to Repulse Bay in an amateur handicap at Newcastle, and a reproduction of that performance would be good enough to win a race of this nature. A winner on Lingfield's Polytrack in January, he faces his easiest task of the season on turf this year. Mister Rambo, another eight-year-old, was third at Musselburgh in handicap company a couple of starts ago, and has a fair chance at these weights, although there must be a slight doubt about his ability to see out this trip. Gold Guest has been largely disappointing since winning a claimer at Musselburgh in March, but his overall level of form still gives him a good chance of at least finding the frame here. However, Free Option is the pick on official ratings and with conditions likely to be ideal, we give Ben Hanbury's gelding a confident vote to land the spoils in this opening race.
