chased winner, effort over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong
held up in touch, weakened over 3f out
slowly into stride, soon tracked leaders, every chance over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
dwelt, behind, headway 2f out, weakened final furlong
made all, strongly challenged 2f out, soon ridden, stayed on under pressure
Dandy Nicholl's seems to hold the aces for this sprint handicap and out of his fancied pair we go for XILERATOR, who made a very favourable impression on his only two-year-old start, ahead of A Pocketful Of Rye while Mel Brittain's Tobrata is also on our list. Mirza looks the most interesting newcomer in the race and a decent first crack isn't out of the picture but we'd prefer to side with one whose had experience. That individual is Xilerator, who found just the one too good at Ayr on his debut run. That form has started to work out and although this will be his first run on this surface his trainer has a good record here and this gelding should improve. A Pocket Full Of Rye sets the standard but is the Nicholls second string. His second place on his second run offers hope despite a couple of poor runs since. Tobrata ran a great race in defeat behind an in-form type in a handicap last time and has a chance if running up to that standard again but he might be vulnerable in this company so as the other newcomers don't look anything special we'll give Xilerator the nod to build on a very promising first effort.
Tobrata 7-1 (8-10) Chased winner untill over 2f out, soon ridden and slightly outpaced, driven over 1f out, stayed on to take 2nd post, 2nd of 8, 1 1/2l behind Whatyouwoodwishfor (8-10) at Southwell 7f hacp 0-70 (5) fbs in Feb.
Smackeroo (USA) 16-1 (9-4) Slowly into stride, raced wide soon in touch, ridden and weakened over 2f out, last of 9, 16l behind Sheila's Bond (8-5) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f mdn fll (5) pol.
Mirza Oasis Dream colt out of Millyant.
Philosophers Stone (FR) Mind Games gelding out of Legality.
Special Quality (USA) Elusive Quality gelding out of Cut Short.
Xilerator (IRE) 13-2 (9-3) Led, headed over 1f out, one pace, 2nd of 8, 2 3/4l behind Tipperary Boutique (8-12) at Ayr 7f 2yo mdn (5) sft in Oct.
A Pocketful Of Rye (IRE) 14-1 (9-0) Headway over 5f out, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, eased over 1f out, tailed off, 10th of 11, well behind Nafura (8-8) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f 2yo hcp 0-80 (4) pol in Oct.