close up, outpaced halfway, ridden and kept on inside final furlong
held up, headway to lead over 1f out, soon 3 lengths clear, edged left inside final furlong, held on close home
led, ridden and headed over 1f out, weakened well inside final furlong
close up, ridden and every chance over 1f out, stayed on close home
steadied start, held up, not clear run over 1f out, switched right inside final furlong, ran on close home, unlucky
close up, ridden and every chance over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
This is a trappy sprint despite the small field, but Whistler has been very consistent of late and is taken to get his head back in front, with Beyond Calculation, Erracht and Alpen Wolf others to consider. Whistler beat a couple of his stablemates at Nottingham in May, and has certainly not been disgraced in defeat since then. He was not helped by a poor low draw at Hamilton last time, and did well to finish fourth under the circumstances. He seems to handle any surface, and is taken to score here under Kevin Darley. Erracht has been busy this year and was not beaten far in a classified stakes at Bath last time, so Karl Burke's charge is again expected to feature prominently here, while Alpen Wolf is a lot better than his recent form figures suggest. He loves this course and is now on a pound lower mark than when winning here last year so it would be no surprise to see him run a big race. Beyond Calculation has been coming to hand of late and went down narrowly to the well-handicapped Sir Sandrovitch at Thirsk last week so would have excellent claims on that form. It is quite possible that Milton Bradley could have another one-two here, and Whistler is just preferred.
