in touch, effort over 1f out, never on terms
made all, hard driven over 2f out, hard pressed closing stages, stayed on well
chased leaders, lost place 2f out, soon beaten
prominent, raced freely, outpaced over 2f out, kept on under pressure closing stages
slowly into stride, outpaced, detatched halfway, never a factor
tracked leader, driven to challenge over 2f out, ran on close home, never reached winner
Only a couple of these have had a run this year and of those, Outbacker will need to step up from a modest handicap debut at Lingfield. But CAPTAIN SECRET landed a double with another easy victory at Southwell in January. Given she's already a winner on Polytrack, Marco Botti's filly gets the nod to go in again. Chester winner De Repente is only 2lb higher on her reappearance while maiden winners Lincoln, Ribbleton and Muir Lodge should be winning again this year. Captain Midnight remains 10lb higher than his win at Beverley in August and has more to find on his return to action.
Muir Lodge 20-1 (9-3) Dwelt, held up, never on terms, 13th of 17, 15l behind Oklahoma City (9-3) at Newmarket 7f 2yo aut (2) gf in Oct.
Captain Secret 5-2 (9-7) Chased leaders, effort on outside over 3f out, led over 2f out, soon clear, very easily, won at Southwell 6f hcp 0-85 (4) fbs in Jan beating Queenie's Home (8-10) by 3 1/2l, 4 ran.
Captain Midnight (IRE) 7-2 (8-12) Tracked leader, lost place 3f out, weakened over 1f out, last of 5, 9l behind Pound Piece (8-4) at Wolverhampton 6f 2yo hcp (2) pol in Nov.
Lincoln (IRE) 28-1 (8-12) Chased leaders, led over 2f out, headed over 1f out, soon weakened, 9th of 23, 7l behind Ventura Mist (8-7) at Redcar 6f Lstd auc stks (1) gf in Oct.
Ribbleton 7-4 (8-11) In touch, pushed along over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, effort over 1f out, led well inside final furlong, ran on, won at Pontefract 6f 2yo mdn aut (5) hvy in Oct beating Percy's Gal (8-7) by 1/2l, 10 ran.
Outbacker (IRE) 8-1 (8-2) Raced wide close up, ridden and edged left approaching final furlong, kept on one pace, 4th of 7, 2l behind Pool House (8-11) at Lingfield 7f 3yo hcp 0-95 (3) pol.
De Repente (IRE) 11-2 (9-2) Tracked leader, ridden halfway, weakening when hampered entering final furlong, 9th of 10, 7l behind Hopefilly (9-3) at Nottingham 5f 2yo hcp 0-80 (4) gd in Oct.