led and raced slightly wide, ridden 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
tracked leader, ridden and every chance inside final furlong, kept on one pace
dwelt, in rear, ridden and headway over 1f out, no impression final furlong
tracked leader until halfway
slowly into stride, soon recovered, headway 2f out, weakened 1f out
held up in last place, headway on outer over 1f out, stayed on to lead towards finish
in touch, ridden to lead inside final furlong, headed towards finish
Nonrunner
Another sprint handicap where ANNE OF KIEV gets the vote to see off Billy Red and Incomparable. Jeremy Gask has so far raced his five-year-old mare sparingly, but she has a good record with two wins and four times a runner-up from just eight career starts. She is up 3lbs for winning when last seen at Wolverhampton in December, but she has also acted well here in the past and there looks likely to be more to come. Billy Red was another to win last time when doing so over 6f at Wolverhampton. He tends to be better over that longer trip, but he does have winning form over the minimum, though a 6lb penalty when combined with that leaves us lukewarm. Jeremy Glover's Incomparable has done his winning away from turf on slower surfaces like Wolverhampton and Southwell, but both wins on grass were on good to firm at Doncaster, so there is hope as far as this surface is concerned. More prohibitive, however, is his current mark of 80, which might just be asking too much. Garstang hasn't won for a while but should get very competitive from this mark, while Master Lightfoot has a course and distance success to his name and merits respect, though Anne Of Kiev gets the nod.
Billy Red 11-1 (9-0) Made all, ridden and edged right over 1f out, kept on well under pressure, won at Wolverhampton 6f hcp 0-85 (4) pol beating Excellent Show (9-4) by 2 1/2l, 8 ran.
Incomparable 12-1 (8-13) Raced centre, mid-division, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 15th of 18, 9l behind Russian Spirit (9-2) at York 5f hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Oct.
Anne of Kiev (IRE) 14-1 (9-4) Bumped start, held up, not clear run over 2f out, soon switched right, headway over 1f out, ran on well to lead last strides, won at Wolverhampton 5f hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Dec beating Colorus (8-10) by 1/2l, 13 ran.
Simple Rhythm 25-1 (8-4) Led, headed over 2f out, weakened quickly, tailed off, last of 8, 24l behind Indian Skipper (8-10) at Kempton 7f hcp 0-85 (4) pol.
Garstang 11-1 (8-10) Prominent, took keen hold, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 8th of 9, 6l behind Rocket Rob (8-13) at Wolverhampton 5f hcp 0-85 (4) pol.
Even Bolder 13-2 (8-10) Chased leaders, under pressure 2f out, stayed on same pace approaching final furlong, 4th of 9, 3l behind Brynfa Boy (8-8) at Lingfield 5f hcp 0-75 (5) pol.
Master Lightfoot 5-1 (9-3) Held up in rear, pushed along over 2f out, chased leaders over 1f out, kept on well, 3rd of 9, 2 1/2l behind Brynfa Boy (8-8) at Lingfield 5f hcp 0-75 (5) pol.
Wotashirtfull (IRE) 7-2 (9-4) Went slightly left start, led, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 4th of 6, 2l behind Argentine (8-9) at Southwell 5f hcp 0-85 (4) fbs.
