held up, headway 4th, ridden, kept on from 2f out, hung left from next
led to 1st, chased leaders, lost place from 3rd, tailed off when pulled up before 5th
held up, towards rear, effort 3 out, never dangerous
tracked leaders, led 5th, ridden and headed approaching 2 out, one pace, no impression
held up, in rear, headway 5th, weakened 2 out
held up, led 3rd to 5th, weakened 3 out
chased leaders, led after 1st, headed 3rd, led approaching 2 out, hit last, ran on well
held up, headway 5th, one pace from 2 out
prominent, tailed off from 3 out
tracked leaders and keen, weakened approaching 3 out, pulled up before next
mid-division, weakened from 3 out
Nonrunner
For us the principals are Rare Coincidence, Rainbow Tree, Sound Skin and Roman Candle, with the vote going to the first-named. Rare Coincidence's second at Cartmel from a three-pounds lower mark last time affords him some sort of chance today and, given that first-time cheekpieces could bring improvement, he has to be considered. Rainbow Tree is lightly raced, seems to be improving and is on a reasonable mark for what he's achieved. Add to that that he races in first-time blinkers then he has to be considered too. Sound Skin put in an improved effort in cheekpieces last time when second at Worcester, albeit over a longer trip, and can go well again. Roman Candle won a similar race off a five-pounds lower mark at Folkestone on September 22nd and, even though he has been better over further recently, cannot be discounted. The others have a few questions to answer at present, although Little Tobias and Idlewild arrive here from decent selling runs, a win in the latter's case. All of which returns us to the selection, which is Rare Coincidence.
Idlewild (IRE) 12-1 (11-5) Held up, headway 7th, chased leader next, ridden and weakened 2 out, 9th of 14, 37l behind Slalom (11-2) at Southwell 2m 5f hcp hdl 0-100 (F) gd in Aug.
Sound Skin (IRE) 14-1 (11-3) Mid-division, headway 6th, left in lead after 3 out, ridden approaching last, headed flat, ran on, 2nd of 17, nk behind Earn Out (10-1) at Worcester 2m 4f cnd nov hcp hdl (F) gf in Jun.
Rainbow Tree 6-1 (11-12) Mid-division, headway and mistake 5th, ridden approaching 3 out, weakened 2 out, 4th of 14, 7l behind Master Nimbus (10-13) at Uttoxeter 2m nov hcp hdl 0-95 (F) gf in Sept.
Lone Soldier (FR) 25-1 (10-11) Prominent until weakened approaching 6th, 8th of 10, 43l behind Mister Moussac (10-9) at Stratford 2m hcp hdl 0-110 (E) gd in Sept.
Rare Coincidence 11-2 (11-4) 2nd of 11, 1l behind Baawrah (10-7) at Cartmel 2m 1f nov hcp hdl 0-100 (E) gd in Aug.
Handa Island (USA) 20-1 (10-13) Tracked leaders, ridden to lead approaching 2 out, weakening when headed approaching last, 5th of 12, 13l behind Harry Blade (11-2) at Perth 2m 4f mdn hdl (E) gd in Sept.
Little Tobias (IRE) 9-1 (11-3) In touch, struggling from 5th, 8th of 10, 22l behind Wally Wonder (11-12) at Market Rasen 2m 3f hcp hdl 0-95 (F) gd in Aug.
Roman Candle (IRE) 4-1 (10-8) Held up last, mistakes 2nd and 5th, progress 3 out, chased leader last, driven to lead close home, won at Fontwell 2m 4f cnd nov hcp hdl (E) gf in Sept beating Rhetorical (9-9) by 1/2l, 9 ran.
