held up towards rear, ridden over 2f out, soon no impression
broke well, soon in touch, not clear run over 1f out, soon driven and ran on to lead well inside final furlong
pulled hard in touch, ridden to challenge over 1f out, kept on same pace
raced keenly, held up in touch, headway to lead over 1f out, soon headed, kept on same pace
slowly into stride, behind, headway over 2f out, soon chasing leaders, led 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
led, pushed along over 3f out, headed over 1f out, soon weakened
SOTIK STAR stands out at the weights and is given the nod. There's not a great deal to choose between the remainder but it would be no surprise to see Rowan Lodge, Climate and Singleb throw down big challenges. Sotik Star has an official mark of 75 with the next highest in the race being Singleb who is rated 65 yet concedes 5lbs to the selection. Kevin Morgan's charge won twice at Lingfield in 2006 so should have no problems with this surface and ran well enough last month to think that he can land this with the minimum of fuss. Singleb is an admirable sort who pays his way in this company and he should land a share of the pot but he is what he is and is up against it if the selection runs anywhere near his best. Similar remarks apply to Rowan Lodge, who is pretty consistent, and Climate, who has an excellent strike rate on the all-weather, but this looks booked for Sotik Star.
Climate (IRE) 14-1 (8-8) Raced in 4th, went 3rd over 6f out, driven along and one pace final 2f, 3rd of 6, 3 1/2l behind Bridgewater Boys (8-7) at Lingfield 1m 2f clm (6) pol in Dec.
Singleb (IRE) 9-2 (8-11) Carried left start, chased leaders, outpaced over 3f out, kept on from over 1f out, 3rd of 9, 3 1/2l behind Dancing Deano (8-10) at W'hampton 7f clm (6) pol in Dec.
Vogarth 5-1 (9-11) Slowly into stride, chased leaders after 3f, led approaching final furlong, just held on, won at Southwell 7f sll (6) fbs beating Cap St Jean (9-2) by a hd, 10 ran.
Rowan Lodge (IRE) 7-1 (9-4) Held up, ridden 3f out, headway over 1f out, kept on well, 3rd of 12, 4l behind Royal Island (9-3) at W'hampton 1m 1f hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Dec.
Sotik Star (IRE) 20-1 (8-12) Slowly into stride, held up towards rear, under pressure over 2f out, soon beaten, 6th of 9, 5l behind Titan Triumph (9-3) at Lingfield 1m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Dec.
Simplified 100-1 (8-0) Towards rear, headway over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 7th of 12, 13l behind Crocodile Bay (8-13) at Southwell 7f sll (6) fbs in Dec.