slowly into stride, in rear, effort 2f out, kept on moderately
mid-division, ridden over 2f out and weakened
tracked leaders, ridden over 3f out, led 2f out, ran on well
mid-division, effort 2f out, stayed on to take 2nd well inside final furlong
soon led, headed 2f out, one pace
towards rear, headway 3f out, ridden 2f out, no further progress
mid-division, ridden on inside 3f out, kept on to chase leaders and faded inside final furlong
led briefly, tracked leaders and keen, one pace final furlong
in touch and keen, short of room and lost place 5f out, no further impression
tracked leaders to halfway
MULTAKKA is the strong selection to land a hat-trick with Commander Cave and Countdown ready to pick up the pieces should thing go amiss. Marcus Tregoning's charge has a record of three wins from five runs on Polytrack with the other two outings in that statistic ending up in placings. Winner over this distance on his last two outings the form is strongly in his favour and although there is six pounds more to carry from his last outing that shouldn't stop him and he has plenty of a weight advantage on most of his rivals here. This is a big step up in class for him but on this form that shouldn't matter. Commander Cave has to give 10 pounds to our selection and is running off a mark much higher than his last victory. That said he too has a good record on the all-weather scoring twice from six starts. More used to this standard of competition than our selection he returned to a bit of form last time when over coming a bad draw to grab second place. The return to the mile is also in his favour. Countdown is in a good position of receiving weight from all of his rivals and comes here on the back of a victory in lesser company here last time. For that he has been given three pounds extra to carry but that shouldn't be a worry as he has won of this mark in the past. The mile trip might be against him with his best efforts coming over seven furlongs and there is also a danger he could be outclassed in this field. A course and distance winner last time top-weight Samarinda has to be respected while Dingaan's recent consistent showings give him a plus but Multakka is in the form of his life and will be hard to beat.
Samarinda (USA) 25-1 (8-13) Held up in rear, good headway on inside, inside final 2f , led inside final furlong, ridden and ran on well, won at Kempton 1m hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Oct beating Extraterrestrial (8-13) by 3/4l, 10 ran.
Kay Gee Be (IRE) 12-1 (8-11) Mid-division, ridden and hampered over 2f out, no impression final furlong, 6th of 11, 4 1/2l behind Mr Aviator (8-11) at Doncaster 7f stk (2) gd in Oct.
Commander Cave (USA) 9-2 (9-6) In touch on outside, ridden over 2f out, ridden to challenge and every chance inside final furlong, just outpaced by winner towards finish, 2nd of 8, 1/2l behind Gallantry (8-11) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-95 (3) pol in Oct.
Moynahan (USA) 12-1 (9-2) Raced keenly in touch, ridden 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 7th of 18, 8l behind Lucky Dance (8-6) at Newmarket 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gs.
Kayak (SAF) 25-1 (9-4) Took keen hold, tracked leader, led over 3f out, headed inside final furlong, weakened, 5th of 11, 3 1/2l behind The Which Doctor (8-9) at Lingfield 1m hcp 0-95 (3) pol in Oct.
Murfreesboro 10-1 (9-11) Slowly into stride, in rear, ridden and headway over 1f out, kept on final furlong, 3rd of 10, 4l behind Riggins (9-4) at Great Leighs 1m hcp 0-90 (3) pol in Aug.
Multakka (IRE) 7-2fav (9-6) Slowly into stride, headway to mid-division over 3f out, not clear run and switch right over 1f out, quickened to lead near finish readily, won at Great Leighs 1m hcp 0-80 (4) pol in Oct beating Le Chiffre (8-8) by 1/2l, 14 ran.
Councellor (FR) 8-1 (9-5) Prominent, not much room and lost place after 1f, headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, 4th of 12, 1l behind Wasp (9-4) at W'hampton 7f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Oct.
Dingaan (IRE) 8-1 (8-10) Raced keenly, prominent, stayed on to chase winner final furlong, no impression, 2nd of 13, 1 1/2l behind Markab (9-4) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-90 (3) pol.
Countdown 12-1 (9-6) Held up towards rear, good headway on inside rail over 1f out, led inside final furlong, ran on well, driven out, won at Kempton 7f hcp 0-80 (4) pol in Oct beating Credit Swap (9-2) by 1l, 13 ran.
