steadied start, held up last, headway well over 1f out, chased leaders and edged left over 1f out, stayed on same pace inside final furlong
chased leader, led over 2f out, stayed on until headed well inside final furlong
held up in 5th, headway to 3rd 2f out, ridden and hung left over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
took keen hold early, chased leading trio, went 2nd approaching 2f out, edged left well over 1f out, ridden and stayed on to lead well inside final furlong
led until headed over 2f out, soon weakened
chased leading pair, one pace when not clear run and shuffled back over 2f out, effort on inside well over 1f out, edged left over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
The Winged Assasin won twice here last month but both times over 1m1f and takes a big step-up in trip. Stadium Of Light continues to climb the weights despite having won only once and is probably better at Southwell. Florio Vincitore began last year on a mark 20lb higher than here and has gone right off the boil but Cotton King is only 2lb higher than when scoring over the C&D in September and rates a threat. Jamie Spencer may be the right man for the quirky Kames Park as his mount needs to be held up until the last minute but the form pick has to be RHYTHM STICK, whose latest success over Dontpaytheferryman has been well and truly boosted by the subsequent exploits of the runner-up.
Kames Park (IRE) 7-2 (9-7) Dropped out start, held up in last, closed 4f out, pushed up to challenge over 1f out, led inside final furlong, edged right and headed towards finish, 3rd of 6, 1l behind Talenti (9-5) at Kempton 1m 4f clm stks (6) pol in Nov.
The Winged Assasin (USA) 4-1 (8-12) Chased leaders, driven to lead over 1f out, soon ridden, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 4th of 10, 1 3/4l behind Mighty Clarets (8-11) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-70 (5) pol in Dec.
Stadium Of Light (IRE) 5-2fav (9-7) Held up behind in touch, driven and headway 3f out, ridden 2f out, led over 1f out, soon hard pressed, kept on until headed and no extra towards finish, 2nd of 5, 1/2l behind Shifting Gold (8-12) at Southwell 1m 6f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs.
Rhythm Stick 5-4fav (9-1) Made all, ridden over 1f out, stayed on well, won at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Dec beating Dontpaytheferryman (8-11) by 1 1/2l, 5 ran.
Florio Vincitore (IRE) 16-1 (9-4) Led, ridden over 2f out, headed over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong, 5th of 10, 10l behind Maison Brillet (9-7) at Kempton 1m 4f 3yo hcp 0-65 (6) pol in Dec.
Cotton King 10-1 (9-0) Slowly into stride, held up towards rear, headway to track leaders after 2f, driven to challenge over 2f out, hung left under pressure over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 5th of 9, 7l behind Beaubrav (9-9) at Lingfield 1m 4f hacp 0-70 (5) pol.
