dwelt chased leaders, ridden to chase clear leader over 1f out until inside final furlong, kept on one pace
tracked leader, ridden and edged right over 1f out, weakened final furlong
taken to post early, slow into stride towards rear, ridden halfway, plenty to do when switched left over 1f out, ridden and ran on strongly to lead towards finish
chased leaders, not clear run and switched left over 1f out, ridden to chase leader briefly inside final furlong
held up, ridden 2f out, never a factor
tracked leader, ridden 2f out, no extra towards finish
slowly away outpaced
always towards rear
led, ridden clear over 1f out, headed towards finish
taken to post early, towards rear, headway halfway, kept on towards finish
STORM LIGHTNING scored off today's mark on the Polytrack in August and has won in testing ground before. He gets the vote ahead of Amenable, who seems to handle any sort of going and ran well at Doncaster last month. Windforpower would prefer a faster surface and could have been better drawn while Speightowns Kid has done all his winning on the all-weather so far. Wotalad has slipped down the weights of late and went very close over 7f at Southwell last time but Dark Opal is preferred racing off a 3lb higher mark than when successful at Ayr in October.
Dark Opal (IRE) 7-1 (8-11) Chased leaders, soon outpaced, weakened halfway, last of 5, 19l behind Six Wives (8-12) at Southwell 5f fll hcp (4) fbs.
Storm Lightning 6-1 (9-7) Tracked winner, ridden and every chance over 1f out, stayed on, 3rd of 8, 2l behind Ladweb (9-2) at Brighton 5f hcp 0-70 (5) gd in Apr.
Amenable (IRE) 9-2 (9-2) Towards rear and outpaced, ridden 2f out, never dangerous, 4th of 7, 6l behind Economic Crisis (8-13) at Hamilton 5f hcp 0-70 (5) gs.
Windforpower (IRE) 12-1 (8-10) Mid-division, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 4th of 11, 4l behind Keep It Dark (9-2) at Catterick 5f hcp 0-75 (5) gd.
Speightowns Kid (USA) 25-1 (9-9) Chased winner until over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, went 2nd again over 1f out, edged right and stayed on inside final furlong, no impression, 2nd of 5, 1 3/4l behind Come On Dave (9-5) at Wolverhampton 5f clm stks (6) pol in Apr.
Pearl Noir 14-1 (9-4) Led overall stands' side, ridden 2f out, edged left and headed inside final furlong, soon weakened, 7th of 14, 10l behind Prigsnov Dancer (8-13) at Nottingham 6f app hcp 0-60 (6) gd.
Lizzy's Dream 14-1 (9-5) Slowly away soon pushed along towards rear, never near leaders, 8th of 12, 4l behind Little Eli (9-7) at Musselburgh 5f app hcp 0-60 (6) gf in Apr.
Wotalad 25-1 (8-12) Led narrowly, headed over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, rallied inside final furlong, pressed winner towards finish, just failed, 2nd of 9, ns behind Izzy Boy (9-2) at Southwell 7f hcp 0-60 (6) fbs in Dec.
Lees Anthem 33-1 (9-2) Raced centre, ridden over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 9th of 15, 9l behind Hab Reeh (8-11) at Newcastle 6f hcp 0-60 (6) sft in Apr.
Lord Buffhead 8-1 (8-8) In rear, outpaced after 2f, 7th of 8, 8l behind Spring Bird (9-0) at Southwell 5f hcp (0-55) (6) fbs in Apr.