dwelt, behind, pushed along over 3f out, headway over 2f out, every chance approaching final furlong, kept on same pace
held up, effort over 2f out, no impression final furlong
led, ridden over 2f out, headed over 1f out, soon weakened
tracked leader, ridden 3f out, led over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on
dwelt, behind, kept on and no impression final 2f
mid-division and keen, ridden over 2f out, kept on and no impression final furlong
mid-division, ridden and headway over 2f, lead inside final furlong, ran on well
keen hold, tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
With all of the older horses looking exposed, a chance is taken with the only three-year-old in the field Rifleman, who faces his easiest task since defeating Boston Lodge, off a 1lb lower mark back in April. With the exception of one poor run (in the Britannia Handicap at the Royal meeting), he has been pretty consistent and he is taken to outclass his rivals. Princes Theatre has more to do than when beating a moderate bunch at Newcastle, but Cashneem, rated 84 at his best, took advantage of a tumbling handicap mark to score at Redcar last month. The runner-up African Sahara has since gone in at Sandown, so Cashneem would looks to have sound claims off just a 4lbs higher mark. Bond Millennium is well suited to this track and is still well treated on the best of his form, but Rifleman is used to tackling better opposition than this and can make the drop in class pay off.