York eyecatcher Bringitonboris and well-bred Cruyff Turn clash in feature

2.20 Musselburgh
Every Race Live On Racing TV Handicap (Class 4) | 1m1f | 4yo+, 0-85 | RTV

Cruyff Turn stands out as the runner most likely to prove ahead of his mark in this company given his relatively lightly raced profile and pedigree.

Rain is due to hit Musselburgh overnight and throughout Tuesday which could assist this four-year-old, whose sire Dutch Art's progeny have a good record on testing terrain.

Cruyff Turn recorded a significant career-best on good to soft when winning at Nottingham last time, although enthusiasm is tempered with his sole run on soft yielding a last of seven behind the reopposing Cockalorum at Pontefract last year.

Cockalorum will be at home again on such conditions and pleased connections with a fine pipe-opener on the all-weather at Newcastle.

Although he was second at odds of 20-1, the result was not a major surprise considering his form figures of 1722 after breaks of 139 days or longer.

His best run last season came on his seasonal debut, so improvement is not guaranteed off an unchanged mark, while all his best form is over 1m2f and he will need a strong test of stamina to excel over this slightly shorter trip.

Bringitonboris has been chalked up as the early favourite and caught the eye in a 7f handicap at the Dante meeting.

The four-year-old was a fast-finishing fourth after breaking slowly at York behind smooth winner Boardman, but will he stay a strongly run 1m1f on this ground?

Returning off the same mark of 74 in a much weaker race suggests he should go close. However, his suitability to these conditions is a concern.

Ayr Poet has been climbing the ranks steadily for Jim Goldie since cashing in off a mark of 46 last August and is versatile regarding ground conditions.

He is 20lb higher now but is worth his rating and must be considered, having won off 60 in good style over this course and distance in April.

Like so many Mark Johnston-trained handicappers, Overwrite has been in and out this year but the ground is probably going against him. It seems unlikely he will get an easy time of things in front.
Race analysis by Robbie Wilders

What they say

Roger Fell, trainer of Cockalorum
I was delighted with his run at Newcastle last time. The trip for this race is just a little shorter than he would normally like but we're going to try a new plan and go forward with him this time. Those tactics worked at Newcastle, so we thought we'd experiment by trying it again at what is a front-runners' course. He's a nice horse and I've always thought there will be a decent handicap in him at some point. The softer the ground gets for him the better.

William Easterby, assistant trainer of Cruyff Turn
He's a really nice horse and there should be plenty more to come from him. He won nicely last time at Nottingham and he should have a great chance. He's still improving and is a big horse with a fantastic pedigree being out of a good Galileo mare from a Cheveley Park family. He's bred to be very smart.

Liam Bailey, trainer of Hajjam
Things didn't go to plan at Ayr last time. He had a bit of hold up before that run and so he may need this run again to put him in his best shape. He is up in trip a little bit but he won well over a mile last season. We know he loves Ayr but hopefully Musselburgh should suit as well. The ground should be fine for him.
Reporting by Tom Ward

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