towards rear, ridden over 2f out, headway and effort over 1f out, stayed on to chase winner inside final furlong
with leader, ridden over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong
slowly into stride, towards rear, never dangerous
chased leading pair, pushed along 3f out, ridden and no impression final 2f
stumbled start, behind, pushed along halfway, stayed on same pace final 2f, never on terms
chased leading pair, headway over 2f out, ridden to lead entering final furlong, ran on strongly
led, ridden over 2f out, headed entering final furlong, no extra
A trappy race in which not too many of the runners can be ruled out entirely, but Northern Games is fancied to get the better of the in form Tantric and Plutocrat. The latter showed slightly improved form to land a handicap at Catterick last time, but faces a stiffer task at these weights and preference goes to Tantric, who returned to form with a vengeance when landing a similar event over course and distance a fortnight ago. However, the race seemed to fall in his favour that day and things may not quite work out like that this time, so we prefer to side with Kevin Ryan's Northern Games. This four-year-old hasn't won for over a year but was a close fourth in a similar event at Catterick last time, and this track is likely to suit him better. He had earlier not had the clearest of runs when favourite of a Thirsk handicap, but a reproduction of that form could easily be enough to see Northern Games record his first victory of the season here.
