held up, headway on outer over 2f out, chased winner over 1f out, no impression final furlong
started slowly, held up in rear, headway over 1f out, stayed on, not reach leaders
held up 4th, headway to chase leader 2f out, led over 1f out, ran on well final furlong (hand-timed)
tracked leaders, went 2nd over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, no impression over 1f out
towards rear, ridden over 2f out, wide into straight, kept on final furlong but not trouble leaders
soon led at good pace, well clear over 4f out, weakening when headed over 1f out, no extra and weakened
held up behind, ridden and beaten 2f out, eased over 1f out, tailed off
held up behind, headway on outer 2f out, kept on steadily to take 3rd inside final furlong but not trouble first 2
mid-division, ridden 3f out, no progress and weakened from 2f out
took keen hold, tracked leader to over 3f out, gradually weakened
From a shortlisted three of Kindlelight Debut, Nice Tune and Boot'n Toot, we will side with Nice Tune in this fillies' handicap. Kindlelight Debut is now six pounds worse off for the two-and-a-half lengths she finished ahead of Nice Tune over seven furlongs last time and, with both of them being effective over this longer trip, it is hard to know which one will come out best today but our choice happens to be Nice Tune. Boot'n Toot is now two pounds below the mark from which she won this race last year, and is a pound better off for the half-length that she beat Island Rapture on that day. They both have to be respected. Turning to the others, and Aunty Euro has so far only won at Gowran Park, Noora has not run since October and needs a career-best to score anyway, Uig has yet to race on the all-weather, and it would be hard to be strong on the others. All of which returns us to the selection, which is Nice Tune.
Kindlelight Debut 9-1 (8-9) Held up, outpaced over 3f out, went 3rd 1f out, one pace, 3rd of 5, 6l behind Border Music (9-0) at W'hampton 7f stk (2) pol.
Aunty Euro (IRE) 16-1 (8-0) Towards rear, no impression and kept on same pace straight, 13th of 20, 10l behind Snap (7-10) at Leopardstown 1m hcp hvy in Nov.
Nice Tune 11-4fav (9-4) Tracked leaders, pressed leader over 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong, 4th of 8, 2 1/2l behind Kindlelight Debut (8-12) at Lingfield 7f fll hcp 0-85 (4) pol.
Boot 'n Toot 12-1 (8-4) Started slowly, mid-division, ridden over 2f out, soon outpaced, 7th of 8, 4l behind Polygonal (8-12) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Jan.
Noora (IRE) 11-1 (8-10) Reluctant and reminders after start, rear, headway over 2f out, chased leaders over 1f out, led just inside final furlong, ran on well, won at Newbury 1m 2f fll hcp (4) gf in Oct beating Real Cool Cat (8-7) by 1 1/2l, 15 ran.
Cashbar 16-1 (9-7) Raced far side, mid-division, ridden and headway over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 16th of 20, 14l behind Boundless Prospect (8-13) at Newmarket 1m hcp (5) gf in Jul.
Island Rapture 12-1 (8-8) Held up mid-division, lost position on inner and last 2f out, stayed on again inside final furlong, 7th of 9, 5l behind Barry Island (8-11) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Feb.
Poppys Footprint (IRE) 12-1 (8-10) Mid-division, headway 2f out, ran on inside final furlong, 2nd of 11, 1/2l behind Following Flow (9-2) at W'hampton 1m 1f hcp 0-75 (5) pol.