led, strongly challenged from well over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
chased leaders, headway over 3f out, soon ridden to challenge, every chance over 1f out, stayed on strongly to lead well inside final furlong, ridden out
tracked leader, effort over 2f out, kept on same pace closing stages
slowly into stride, hard driven and soon prominent, lost place over 3f out, eased over 1f out
Withdrawn
SUNNYSIDE TOM gets the tentative vote. He was fourth in a handicap back in 2009 on his only previous start on this surface and is best in at the weights today, needing only to run up to the form of August's win at Beverley to land this. Mcconnell won a seller over C&D in November but failed to land the odds here last time, while William Morgan is another course winner but showed nothing in two starts at Wolverhampton last month. The remaining pair are hard to fancy on today's terms.
Sunnyside Tom (IRE) 2-1 (9-5) Raced keenly, tracked leaders on outside, ridden over 2f out, went 2nd when edged right 1f out, kept on same pace, no chance with winner final furlong, 2nd of 6, 4l behind Just Lille (9-9) at Musselburgh 1m 1f clm stks (6) gs in Sep.
McConnell (USA) 11-10fav (9-7) Held up in touch in rear, ridden and headway over 1f out, soon no impression, 4th of 7, 7l behind River Ardeche (9-1) at Southwell 1m sell stks (6) fbs in Dec.
Horatio Carter 10-1 (9-1) Mid-division, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, 4th of 13, 2 3/4l behind Andiamo Via (8-8) at Southwell 7f hcp 0-70 (5) fbs in Dec.
Kheskianto (IRE) 7-1 (10-0) Slowly away, held up mid-division, headway over 3f out, led 2f out, headed over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 9th of 15, 8l behind Dean Iarracht (10-3) at Beverley 1m 2f am hcp 0-60 (6) gf in Sep.
William Morgan (IRE) 33-1 (8-9) In touch, weakened over 2f out, 11th of 12, 23l behind Eastward Ho (9-4) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (6) pol in Dec.