3:38 Southwell Tips

Military Cross is a gelding whose better recent efforts have come on the all-weather over this sort of trip, including a Southwell run where he moved smoothly into contention and stayed on strongly without everything falling right. He has shown he can run to a competitive level in similar company and tends to do his best work late when produced with a run. With conditions again playing to his strengths, there are sound reasons to expect him to be in the mix late on.

Aajej has not won yet but was a close second at Wolverhampton in Nov off a 79 at 1m6f. The next two runs were only to midfield when stepping up in trip to 2+ miles. I think that the return to 1m6f today off a 77 could see him involved again.

Traila has won 1 and placed in 2 runs at this trip and has placed in 1 of 5 runs in this class. Below form lately but from strong yard in good form and potentially on a nice mark.

Reina Del Mar is not easy to get a clear picture of. This 8-year-old mare has been poor over hurdles compared to what was expected of her. Her flat form is not much better, but this Class 4 race is a long way down from the races she was asked to contest previously. It is also her first attempt on the AW. She may cause an upset.