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Racecards

19:45 Wolverhampton

Betway Handicap (Class 2)

  • 7 Runners
  • Distance: 1m 4f 51y
  • Going: Standard
  • Surface: AllWeather
  • £19,000 added
  • Winner: £11,972
  • 2nd: £3,583
  • 3rd: £1,792
  • 4th: £897
Weighed In
  • Winning Time: 2m 37.43s
  • Off Time: 19:45:27
  • 7 Ran
Go to Full Result
1
Silk -

Mount Tahan (IRE)

13/2

    2
    Silk -

    Celestial Spheres (IRE)

    11/8

      1(5)
      Silk - RED, WHITE sleeves, BLUE and WHITE striped cap

      Soldier In Action (FR)

      103 CD
      4/1
      • Form 105641-
      • Age 5
      • Weight 9-13
      • Official Rating 108

      soon led, ridden and headed over 2f out, kept on same pace

      2(1)
      Silk - Royal blue, white hoop, striped sleeves, white cap, royal blue star

      Port Douglas (IRE)

      325
      18/1
      • Form 205/606-
      • Age 5
      • Weight 9-5
      • Official Rating 100

      in touch, ridden over 2f out, not trouble leaders

      3(6)
      Silk - Orange, dark blue stripe, hooped sleeves, quartered cap

      Mount Tahan (IRE)

      21 C
      13/2
      • Form P021-12
      • Age 6
      • Weight 9-5
      • Official Rating 100

      awkwardly away towards rear, ridden and headway approaching final furlong, led inside final furlong, readily

      4(7)
      Silk - Royal blue

      Celestial Spheres (IRE)

      37 p D
      11/8
      • Form 1/5101-1
      • Age 4
      • Weight 8-13
      • Official Rating 95

      tracked leader, led over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong

      5(3)
      Silk - Red, gold braid, white sleeves and cap with gold tassel

      Al Hamdany (IRE)

      12 p D
      3/1
      • Form 5122-44
      • Age 4
      • Weight 8-13
      • Official Rating 95

      keen close up, ridden to chase leader over 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, not quicken towards finish

      6(4)
      Silk - Light blue, yellow chevron, dark blue sleeves, dark blue and yellow hooped cap

      Diodorus (IRE)

      21 p
      14/1
      • Form 2/4314-4
      • Age 4
      • Weight 8-9
      • Official Rating 91

      tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong

      7(2)
      Silk - Black, White Cross of Lorraine, hooped sleeves and cap

      Baz (FR)

      81 p
      100/1
      • Form 5/59335-
      • Age 8
      • Weight 8-5
      • Official Rating 80

      in rear, pushed along 3f out, never on terms

      Previous results

      2017
      (1)
      Silk -

      Cohesion

      6/1
      • Age 4
      • Weight 9-5

      2016
      (8)
      Silk -

      Winterlude (IRE)

      7/2
      • Age 6
      • Weight 9-4

      2015
      (5)
      Silk -

      Dream Child (IRE)

      11/10
      • Age 4
      • Weight 9-3

      In depth

      Verdict

      Port Douglas won a Group 2 when trained by Aidan O’Brien and also ran in the Racing Post Trophy and Irish Derby. He didn’t pull up any trees in Singapore last year, however, and is having his first run for Paul Cole after a lay-off. Baz faces an almost-impossible task at the weights but none of the remaining quintet can be ignored. Godolphin’s Celestial Spheres is on an upward curve and the form of his latest win at Lingfield has been franked but AL HAMDANY gets a 7lb pull in the weights for a length-and-a-quarter defeat at the Surrey course on New Year’s Eve when he met trouble in-running - Marco Botti’s charge can take his revenge here. Soldier In Action is a useful performer on the all-weather and Turf but may just need this while this will probably be too far for Mount Tahan but Diodorus has been lightly campaigned and may have more to offer.

      Formwatch

      Soldier In Action (FR) 6-1 (10-1) Made all, ridden over 1f out, hung left approaching final furlong, hung left again and battled on gamely inside final furlong, driven out, unchallenged, won at Kempton 2m hcp (2) pol in Nov beating Lord George (9-4) by 1/2l, 9 ran.

      Port Douglas (IRE) (9-0) 6th of 12, 1/2l behind at Kranji 7f in Apr.

      Mount Tahan (IRE) 3-1 (9-7) Held up, headway on outside over 1f out, ridden and went 2nd well inside final furlong, no chance with winner, 2nd of 6, 1 1/2l behind Star Archer (8-12) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (2) pol in Feb.

      Celestial Spheres (IRE) 6-4fav (9-1) Tracked leader, led over 2f out and sent 2 lengths clear, driven and reduced lead towards finish, always holding on, won at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp (3) pol in Jan beating Cosmeapolitan (9-0) by 1/2l, 8 ran.

      Al Hamdany (IRE) 10-3 (9-4) In touch, quick move to lead 7f out until 6f out, chased leader until pushed along 4f out, chased leading pair, hard ridden and not quicken 2f out, lost 3rd towards finish, 4th of 9, 2l behind Cosmeapolitan (8-13) at Kempton 1m 3f hcp (2) pol in Feb.

      Diodorus (IRE) 16-1 (9-0) Dwelt, held up, headway on outside under pressure over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, never nearer, 4th of 6, 2 3/4l behind Star Archer (8-12) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (2) pol in Feb.

      Baz (FR) (9-4) 5th of 12, 20 1/2l behind Intaglio (9-6) at Toulouse 1m 2f stks hvy in Dec.