reared start, with leaders, ridden to challenge 2f out, weakened final furlong
slowly into stride, not much room, switched left halfway, hung right and headway over 1f out, stayed on to lead inside final furlong
close up, led halfway, headed inside final furlong, no extra
in touch, pushed along and headway halfway, weakened approaching final furlong
towards rear, pushed along halfway, kept on same pace final 2f
led, ridden and headed halfway, one pace final furlong.
The consistent Johnny Parkes deserves to get his head in front, and seems to have been found a good opportunity here; Whittingham Village seems most likely to chase him home. The latter has had plenty of chances, but Alan Berry's filly has some fair form in the context of this race and a reproduction of her course and distance third a couple of runs ago should see her once again land some prize money here. But Johnny Parkes boasts an altogether higher and more consistent level of form. Lynda Ramsden's Wolfhound gelding has finished second on each of his four starts so far, and was a beaten favourite on the last two occasions, at Haydock and Redcar. He has, though, looked perfectly genuine, and his head defeat by Mac Love last time is better form than any of his rivals have managed to achieve so far, so a reproduction of that performance should be enough to see him get his head in front today
