tracked leader, led on bit over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, ran on well
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, kept on but not dangerous
slowly into stride, led, ridden and headed over 2f out, weakened
towards rear, ridden over 2f out, no impression
slowly into stride, tracked leaders, ridden to chase winner from over 1f out, one pace
tracked leaders, effort and no impression from 2f out
slowly into stride, mid-division, ridden and outpaced over 2f out, stayed on final furlong
mid-division, outpaced from over 2f out, switched left and stayed on from over 1f out, nearest at finish
This is a trappy sprint handicap, but the booking of Lisa Jones catches the eye for the well-handicapped Sotonian, and he just gets our vote ahead of Double M, Indian Bazaar and Tomthevic. Double M finished second in a similar event at Lingfield last time, with Indian Bazaar a neck away in third and Tomthevic a further length away in fifth. The revised weights slightly favour Indian Bazaar, and Milton Bradley has booked Seb Sanders today so he should be thereabouts. In truth, there is likely to be little between these three protaganists again, but we just prefer the claims of Paul Felgate's old warrior, Sotonian. He is ten years old now, and although he hasn't won for nearly two years, he races off a mark 19 pounds lower than his last success, and showed he might be coming to hand when fifth to Guns Blazing at Leicester last time. The winner has franked the form by following up at Brighton, and off a two pound lower mark Sotonian may just provide some value here.