chased leader, ridden over 1f out, no impression final furlong
led, ridden and headed 1f out, weakened final furlong
chased leaders, ridden and effort over 1f out, no extra final furlong
soon behind, never dangerous
always behind
with leaders, challenged 2f out, ridden and every chance over 1f out, not quicken final furlong
chasing leaders when stumbled, lost place 4th out, pulled up lame 3f out
chased leaders, headway 2f out, ridden to lead 1f out, kept on
mid-division, ridden 2f out, soon weakened
dwelt and behind, headway on inside 3f out, ridden over 1f out, kept on well final furlong, nearest finish
mid-divison when hampered and lost place 4f out, no recover
slowly into stride and behind, ridden and some headway 2f out, never nearer
soon into stride and behind, never dangerous
chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, kept on final f, no impression
David Barker can repeat last year's win in this seller with Fox Covert, who can see off Smokincanon, The Old Soldier and King Forever. The selection won this off a mark of 48 last year and comes back here now 8lb lower. True enough,he has not been in great form just lately, but his yard have come back with a few winners and he has plenty in his favour here, so he gets the nod. Smokincanon is in decent nick at present and loves genuinely fast ground like this. He went well at Nottingham over this trip last time , and we can see him repeating the dose. King Forever is tried over shorter here after contesting races over a mile and 7f, and he will have to find some extra speed from somewhere, while The Old Soldier is definitely better over 7f and this may just be a bit sharp. Stagnite won at Salisbury last time but is inconsistent and a repeat is by no means certain, so we will stick with Fox Covert to follow up last year's victory.
Stagnite 33-1 (9-4) Made all, ridden over 2f out, stayed on well final furlong, won at Salisbury 6f ldy rds hcp (5) gf beating Miss Porcia (9-7) by 1/2l, 13 ran.
Fox Covert (IRE) 14-1 (7-11) Chased leaders, weakened over 2f out, 8th of 11, 8l behind Yorkshire Blue (9-9) at Hamilton 6f hcp 0-65 (6) gf in Jun.
King Forever 6-1 (8-11) Soon led, headed and hung right over 2f out, soon beaten, 4th of 8, 8l behind Vancouver Gold (8-12) at Southwell 1m sll (6) fbs in Feb.
Smokincanon 11-1 (8-11) Raced far side, prominent, led group halfway, ridden over 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, not quicken towards finish, 3rd of 17, 2l behind Namir (9-10) at Nottingham 6f sll hcp (6) frm.
St Ivian 40-1 (8-6) Raced stand side, held up mid-division, weakened over 2f out, 14th of 18, 17l behind Lincolneurocruiser (9-2) at Newmarket 7f app hcp (5) frm.
The Old Soldier 11-2 (8-13) Reared start and behind, driven and headway over 1f out, ridden and ran on final furlong, nearest finish, 3rd of 14, 1 1/2l behind Sawwaah (9-0) at Redcar 7f clm (5) frm in Jun.
Algorithm 20-1 (8-8) Dwelt, ridden to lead after 1f, headed 6f out, remained in touch, ridden and weakened over 1f out, 9th of 14, 16l behind Aberdeen Park (8-9) at Southwell 1m fll mdn hcp 0-70 (6) fbs.
Swallow Senora (IRE) 15-2 (8-9) Led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 6th of 14, 2 1/2l behind Mytton's Bell (9-0) at Southwell 7f 3yo sll (6) fbs in Oct.
