tracked leader, pressed leader from over 2f out until 1f out, weakened towards finish
led, ridden and joined from over 2f out, headed entering final furlong, kept on, one pace
close up in 3rd, led entering final furlong, ridden and ran on
The front-running pair Lady Florence and April Fool should ensure a good pace in this small field but look likely to set the race up for SWISS CROSS. Gerard Butler's charge ended last year in fine form over 6f at Kempton but has won over today's trip on turf and is preferred to Stefanki. The latter refused to race on three occasions last year but has started without any problems in a couple of runs since his comeback and went close at Kempton last month. Buxton won twice here back in 2008 but hasn't shown much on the all-weather recently and is hard to recommend.
Lady Florence 4-1 (9-2) Led, ridden 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 6th of 12, 6l behind Fault (9-2) at Brighton 7f clm stks (6) gf in Sep.
April Fool 9-1 (9-5) Chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 4th of 15, 3l behind Masked Dance (9-7) at Catterick 7f hcp 0-75 (5) gd in Mar.
Buxton 10-1 (9-5) Chased leaders, ridden when short of room and badly hampered entering final 2f out, soon eased, last of 9, 11l behind Rondeau (9-7) at Lingfield 7f hacp 0-70 (5) pol.
Swiss Cross 5-1 (8-12) Slowly into stride, raced wide in mid-division, pushed along halfway, one pace and no real impression final 2f, 7th of 12, 4 1/2l behind Sutton Veny (8-10) at Kempton 6f hcp 0-95 (3) pol in Nov.
Stefanki (IRE) 12-1 (9-1) Dwelt, mid-division on inner, headway 2f out, ridden over 1f out, joined winner inside final furlong, just held post, 2nd of 14, shd behind New Leyf (9-6) at Kempton 7f hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Mar.