mid-division, chased leaders over 2f out, soon ridden, one pace final furlong
chased leaders, ridden to challenge well over 1f out, no extra final furlong
dwelt, raced keenly and soon mid-division, lost place over 3f out, weakened and eased final 2f
made all, ridden over 1f out, stayed on well final furlong
behind, headway 2f out, ridden over 1f out, kept on, never on terms
towards rear, outpaced over 3f out, soon ridden, stayed on from over 1f out, never nearer
mid-division, ridden and headway 2f out, stayed on under pressure to go 2nd well inside final furlong, not reach winner
close up, ridden and effort 2f out, kept on under pressure final furlong
mid-division, outpaced over 3f out, soon beaten
chased leaders to over 2f out, soon weakened
held up towards rear, headway on inside 3f out, ridden and effort over 1f out, no extra final furlong
mid-division, ridden 2f out, no impression
always towards rear
chased leaders to 2f out, soon ridden and weakened
always towards rear
chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
David Nicholls' team have been running well since the start of the turf campaign and, with that in mind, Golden Spectrum is selected in preference to El Palmer, who has an obvious chance at the weights. Ballybunion and Candleriggs -stablemates of the selection - are others that can go close for each-way players, while First Maite is an experienced campaigner that would be hard to rule out if it could be predicted that he will do himself justice today. Marcus Eile has always been well regarded by his trainer and is dropping to a very attractive mark. However, there has to be the suspicion that he is not entirely in love with the game and he needs to show improvement to score, even at this level. El Palmer has also been hard to win with since his success in a claimer at Thirsk last summer. Still he has to be respected in this company and does not have much to find to make a fist of things. However, preference goes to Golden Spectrum, who has been freshened up by a short break since February. The son of Spectrum left the impression that his turn is not too far away when he stayed on late when he was last seen out. The step up in trip is very much in his favour and he looks an ideal partner to give his 7lb claimer a good passage round. Ballybunion can be speedy on his day and is factored in as a saver option if the market indicates that a high draw can be the undoing of Golden Spectrum.
Alafzar (IRE) 12-1 Chased leaders, 2nd when bumped over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 8th of 10, 7l behind Rolex Free at W'hampton 1m 1f sll (G4) pol in Mar.
Ballybunion (IRE) 13-2fav Chased leaders, ridden and weakened 2f out, last of 17, 31l behind Bundy at Pontefract 6f sll gs in Mar.
El Palmar 12-1 Raced keenly, chased leaders to over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 5th of 11, 3 1/2l behind Go Yellow at Folkestone 7f hcp sft in Mar.
The Number 12-1 Chased leaders, ridden 3f out, switched right 1f out, no extra inside final furlong, 8th of 11, 3 1/2l behind Andaluza at W'hampton 7f hcp (E3) pol in Mar.
First Maite 6-1 Mid-division, lost place and ridden halfway, switched right over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 5th of 10, 8l behind Experimental at W'hampton 7f sll (G4) pol in Nov.
Golden Spectrum (IRE) 6-1 Slowly into stride, towards rear, ridden halfway, stayed on from over 1f out, nearest finish, 4th of 14, 3 1/2l behind Zorn at Southwell 6f stk (H5) fbs in Feb.
Marcus Eile (IRE) 16-1 Reminders soon after start, led over 6f out, ridden and headed over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 12th of 13, 24l behind The Gaikwar at W'hampton 1m 1f amt clm stk (G4) pol in Mar.
Mehmaas 11-1 Led after 1f, ridden over 2f out, headed entering final furlong, weakened towards finish, 7th of 12, 4l behind Eastern Hope at Newcastle 1m clm (F) sft in Aug.
