raced centre, held up just behind leaders, ridden over 2f out, switched right and ridden over 2f out, drifted left and ran on final furlong, just held
led in centre of track, drifted towards far side, ridden over 1f out, headed just inside final furlong, no extra
raced prominently in centre, ridden over 2f out, lost place over 1f out, weakened final furlong
raced alone on near side, prominent, ridden over 1f out, led just inside final furlong, held on
raced in centre, close-up, pushed along over 3f out, ridden and no impression 2f out, kept on but no impression
Astrophysics won over 6f at Wolverhampton last time. This drop back to the minimum trip may not be a problem but the soft going could be while it was good ground when David's Beauty scored at Chepstow recently. MONTALVAN has only won a maiden so far but has been beaten less than a length on his last couple of outings, including at Thirsk four days ago, which suggests Roger Fell’s charge may be up to winning off his current mark. He gets the nod with with Groundworker and Burmese Blazer both returning from lay-offs and the former 6lb higher than when scoring over track and trip in August.
Astrophysics 7-1 (9-5) Close up, headway over 1f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on, won at Wolverhampton 6f hcp (6) pol in Jun beating Qaaraat (9-3) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.
Groundworker (IRE) 5-1 (8-11) Taken to post early, tracked winner, ridden 2f out, outpaced by winner final furlong, 2nd of 7, 3 1/2l behind Autumn Flight (9-5) at Hamilton 5f hcp (5) hvy in Sep.
Burmese Blazer (IRE) 5-1 (9-3) Pushed along towards rear, never a factor, 8th of 12, 6 1/2l behind Hawk In The Sky (9-5) at Catterick 5f hcp (6) hvy in Oct.
Montalvan (IRE) 5-1 (9-6) In touch, ridden and headway approaching final furlong, stayed on towards finish, 4th of 10, 3/4l behind Sambucca Spirit (9-7) at Thirsk 5f hcp (6) gs in Jun.
David's Beauty (IRE) 4-1 (8-13) Made all centre, ridden over 1f out, edged right inside final furlong, won at Chepstow 5f hcp (6) gs in Jun beating Katherine Place (9-4) by 1/2l, 8 ran.