14:30 Musselburgh

Saturday 9 June 2018

All13:5514:3015:1015:4516:2016:5517:30

Edinburgh Gin's Scottish Sprint Cup Handicap

Off time: 14:31 | Winning time: 56.77s

(9)

Caspian Prince^t⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 9-10| J: Alistair Rawlinson| T: M Appleby| OR: 106| CD

16/1

Fourth and beaten just over 1½L in this race in 2017 (good to firm) when trained by Tony Coyle; races from a 7lb lower mark and last seen weakening in the Epsom Dash (13/20) after showing his usual early pace.

Form: 130660

(14)

El Astronaute¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-5| J: Jason Hart| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 101| D

9/2

Finished seventh in this race in 2017 (good to firm) and has been the model of consistency since, winning twice and finishing runner up on four occasions (all over 5f); career high mark to defy, but likely to blaze the trail.

Form: 25-2312

(10)

Major Jumbo¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-5| J: Nicola Currie⁽⁵⁾| T: K A Ryan| OR: 101| BF| D

6/1

York regular since early 2017, and ran a couple of rock-solid races at that track last month (5f), including when third (beaten two necks) to El Astronaute; much respected.

Form: 291-134

(2)

Ornate^t²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-4| J: Shane Gray| T: D C Griffiths| OR: 100| D

25/1

Left Robert Cowell for 110,000 gns in October 2017 after a productive season which yielded 5f Conditions Stakes wins at Newmarket at Nottingham; struggled in Group races for new connections since wind surgery.

Form: 4432-84

(5)

Soie D'leau²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 9-2| J: D C Costello| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 98| D

20/1

Back to the form he showed for Kristin Stubbs in late 2016 when making a winning stable debut at Thirsk last month (5f good to firm); up 3lb and will face strong competition for the early lead.

Form: 21502-1

(4)

Orvar²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-2| J: P Makin| T: P T Midgley| OR: 98| D

16/1

Fourth, but beaten just over 1½L by Soie D'Leau at Thirsk last month (5f good to firm) and continues to build upon his earlier fine AW efforts (5f); trainer also saddles Move In Time and Line Of Reason.

Form: 61-1624

(13)

Copper Knight²³

Age: 4| Weight: 8-13| J: D Allan| T: T D Easterby| OR: 95| D

8/1

Won on his second start in 2017 (5f Chester) and followed up off his current mark at York thereafter, so a real possibility he'll be stronger for his seasonal return last month (12/18), but work to do with El Astronaute/Major Jumbo.

Form: 30467-0

(12)

El Hombre²⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 8-9| J: Rowan Scott⁽³⁾| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 91| D

20/1

All bar one of his five career wins (from 13 starts) have come over 6f, and whilst he can compete fairly effectively over this shorter trip in a lesser grade, he's 0 from 2 in Class 2 handicaps.

Form: 3211-00

(16)

Mayleaf Shine^h³⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 8-9| J: Jamie Gormley⁽⁵⁾| T: I Jardine| OR: 91| D

25/1

Both of her wins have come with cut in the ground (5f), so she has plenty to prove on the forecast good to firm ground from a mark which is 4lb above her last winning one; rates as an unlikely winner.

Form: 25163-7

(1)

Merhoob⁷^{(ex 6)}

Age: 6| Weight: 8-9| J: K Stott| T: J Ryan| OR: 85| CD

12/1

Followed up a decent run over 6f at Chelmsford in early April with a smooth 1¾L win over C&D last week (Class 4); up 7lb and into a Class 2 handicap, so that's expecting too much in a race which will be fast and furious.

Form: 244/721

(17)

Dark Shot⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 8-8| J: Connor Murtagh⁽⁵⁾| T: S Dixon| OR: 90| BF| D

12/1

No win since September 2016 (5f Ascot) and left Andrew Balding for 40,000 gns in November 2017. Has previous with El Astronaute, including when splitting both he and today's rival Major Jumbo at York penultimate; fifth in the Epsom Dash latest.

Form: 5540-25

(3)

Move In Time²¹

Age: 10| Weight: 8-8| J: Cam Hardie| T: P T Midgley| OR: 90| CD

8/1

Veteran, but plenty to like about all three of his efforts in 2018, improving from race to race and winning well at Newmarket last month (5f good to firm); up 7lb, but closely matched with previous conqueror Major Jumbo.

Form: 066-321

(7)

Line Of Reason²³

Age: 8| Weight: 8-8| J: J Fanning| T: P T Midgley| OR: 90| CD

8/1

Got going too late to trouble the principals (which included El Astronaute) at York last month (5f good to firm), but well handicapped from a mark 7lb below what he won this race from by a neck in 2017.

Form: 28-0077

(6)

Orion's Bow²⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 8-7| J: D Fentiman| T: T D Easterby| OR: 89| BF| D

12/1

Scaled the heights in 2016 for Dandy Nicholls winning the Gosforth Park Cup and the Scottish Stewards Cup during a five-time winning run which only ended at Goodwood in the Stewards Cup (second). 11/4f (11/17) in this in 2017 but 15lb lower today.

Form: 0070-30

(11)

Excessable¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 8-5| J: Rachel Richardson⁽³⁾| T: T D Easterby| OR: 87| D

33/1

3lb below his last winning mark (York, July 2017), but that's attributed in large to a couple of moderate efforts so far in 2018 and plenty on his plate to trouble El Astronaute/Major Jumbo and others accordingly.

Form: 0916-00

(8)

Fendale¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 8-4| J: Aaron Jones⁽³⁾| T: B Smart| OR: 86| CD

12/1

Left Antony Brittain over the winter months, and returned for this trainer with a bold effort at Newcastle in March (upsides Move In Time), backed that up since; albeit behind El Astronaute but not won since his 2yo days (C&D).

Form: 37/0-258

Non-Runners

(15)

Batten The Hatches¹⁴

Weight: 8-7| Age: 4

T: T D Barron J: Non Runner

Forecasts

El Astronaute (9/2), Major Jumbo (6/1), Move In Time (8/1), Copper Knight (8/1), Line Of Reason (8/1), Dark Shot (12/1), Fendale (12/1), Orion's Bow (12/1), Merhoob (12/1), Caspian Prince (16/1), Orvar (16/1), El Hombre (20/1), Soie D'leau (20/1), Batten The Hatches (20/1), Mayleaf Shine (25/1), Ornate (25/1), Excessable (33/1)

A staggeringly competitive feature race at Musselburgh but one thing is for certain; if you blink you'll miss it. Any number enter the reckoning including the old York rivals El Astronaute, Dark Shot and Major Jumbo, with the last named perhaps the marginal pick of that trio under the capable hands of Nicola Currie. Paul Midgley saddles three runners and unbelievably the 2017 scorer Line Of Reason isn't necessarily the stable number one despite racing from a 7lb lower mark today. However, well take aim at the very capable ORION'S BOW. He's well treated again nowadays and a force to be reckoned with when on song, as demonstrated back in the summer of 2016.