ran green, mid-division and hung left, weakened 2f out
with leader to halfway
in touch, ridden inside final furlong, kept on and held towards finish
led, headed over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, no extra and lost 2nd towards finish
tracked leaders, led over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, held on well towards finish
towards rear, ridden over 1f out, kept on same pace
Six favourites have won this in the past ten years. The Dream Fast made a very encouraging debut at Wolverhampton in December and started odds-on when tackling a mile at Lingfield the following month but pulled much too hard and was soon done with. Shootingasta showed good pace in most of his races last term without finding a finishing burst and hasn't run since October. Secret Glance has a similar profile though he's only run on the all-weather since a reasonable debut at Pontefract in September. LIGHTNING SPREE was heavily supported at Southwell last month and though unable to cope with One Man Army it was a fair effort so he's taken to go one better with Shane Grey's claim a bonus.
Billy Ranger (IRE) Bushranger gelding out of Prealpina.
Henry Smith 25-1 (9-5) Missed break, outpaced in rear, some headway 2f out, never able to challenge, 5th of 6, 9l behind Maureb (9-0) at Redcar 7f 3yo mdn aut (6) gf in Apr.
Lightning Spree (IRE) 7-4fav (8-10) Freely to post post, prominent, led over 5f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, kept on, held inside final furlong, 2nd of 6, 1 1/4l behind One Man Army (8-10) at Southwell 7f mdn auc stks (5) fbs in Apr.
Questo 66-1 (9-0) Held up in mid-division, steady headway halfway, chased leaders over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 4th of 13, 5l behind Don't Touch (9-0) at Newcastle 6f mdn stks (5) sft.
Secret Glance 5-4fav (9-5) Dwelt, raced wide, tracked leaders, ridden 2f out, stayed on towards finish, not pace to challenge, 3rd of 4, 1 1/4l behind Kyrenia Castle (9-5) at Wolverhampton 5f 2yo mdn stks (5) in Dec.
Shootingsta (IRE) 13-8fav (9-5) With leader, led narrowly over 2f out, ridden and headed final furlong, soon edged left, no extra and lost 2nd place last 75 yards, 3rd of 11, 1 1/2l behind Belle Travers (9-0) at Redcar 7f 2yo mdn (5) gd in Oct.
The Dream Fast 8-11fav (9-5) Led after 1f, headed 2f out, ridden and weakened inside final furlong, 7th of 10, 8l behind Hungerford (9-5) at Lingfield 1m 3yo mdn auc stks (6) pol in Jan.