soon led, ridden and headed inside final furlong, always held
in touch, headway over 2f out, same pace final furlong
chased leader, weakening when hampered inside final furlong
held up towards rear, headway 2f out, led inside final furlong, ran on well
mid-division, ridden and headway on outside 2f out, kept on final furlong
prominent til ridden and weakened over 3f out
soon pushed along, weakened after halfway
always mid-division, saddle slipped
chased leaders, ridden and every chance over 1f out, weakened final furlong
Three horses, namely Hurricane Coast, Pup's Pride and Repeat, stand out on form here and the vote goes to Hurricane Coast, despite slight reservations about the trip. The selection won a seven-furlong seller at Southwell earlier this month, staying on well in the latter stages, and confirmed his current well-being with a half-length second to Far Note in a six furlong handicap at the same venue on Tuesday. The way that he finished at Southwell coupled with having been placed over a mile on turf suggests that this trip is should hold no fears for Paul Blockley's gelding, who makes more appeal than his main rivals. Pup's Pride is certainly at his best over today's trip, as he showed when winning a similar contest over course and distance last week. However, Norma Macauley's gelding is not the most consistent of performers and cannot be relied upon to reproduce his effort of last time. Recent Southwell selling winner Repeat failed to stay when last tackling a mile and is not certain to get the trip. Harry The Hoover is officially best in, according to BHB ratings, but has given little sign for encouragement in recent starts over hurdles. Forty Forte has claims on his best form but may just need a couple of runs to put him right. That is not a problem for Hurricane Coast though and he gets the nod.
