led narrowly towards stands side rail, ridden and headed 2f out, kept on same pace, no chance with front pair final furlong
tracked leaders, driven over 2f out, went 2nd inside final 2f, ridden and kept on same pace in clear 2nd inside final furlong, no chance with winner
chased leaders, outpaced over 2f out, no chance with leaders over 1f out
in rear, outpaced 3f out, ridden over 1f out, no chance with leaders
BRANDO makes a belated seasonal debut but has a few pounds in hand on his main rivals. Kevin Ryan's charge ended last year with a couple of seconds and Gathurst also found only one too good when odds-on favourite in soft ground over track and trip last time. The latter will be looking to make amends in this but shares the same handicap rating as Arms Around Me, who seems to have gone off the boil of late. Springtime Winnie and It's Time For Bed are hard to fancy having shown nothing so far.
Arms Around Me (IRE) 8-1 (9-5) Chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, stayed on same pace final 2f, no impression on winner, pressed for 2nd inside final 100 yards, 3rd of 5, 7 1/4l behind Almohtaseb (9-5) at Doncaster 7f mdn stks (5) gf in Jul.
Brando Evensfav (9-0) Prominent, ridden to lead 2f out, edged left and headed inside final furlong, ran on, 2nd of 7, 1/2l behind Field Game (9-7) at Catterick 5f stks (5) gs in Oct.
Gathurst 4-11fav (9-5) Reared start, prominent, led over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 2nd of 8, 3/4l behind Niqnaaqpaadiwaaq (9-5) at Hamilton 6f mdn stks (5) sft in Aug.
It's Time For Bed 66-1 (8-6) Slowly into stride and ran green, in rear, reminders 3f out, headway over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 6th of 7, 21 1/2l behind Get Knotted (8-11) at Ayr 6f mdn stks (5) gd in Sep.
Springtime Winnie 18-1 (9-0) Always towards rear, 9th of 12, 16 1/2l behind Gypsy Major (9-5) at Redcar 7f mdn stks (5) gf in Aug.