made all, ridden clear, quickened 2f out, ran on well
held up in rear, headway 5f out, ridden 3f out, chased winner 2f out, always held
slowly into stride, held up, headway 5f out, ridden and weakened 2f out
tracked clear leader, ridden over 3f out, weakened 2f out
Thorntoun Gold is in fair form and is fancied to land a weakly contested opener at the expense of Peggy Lou and Molly's Secret. Peggy Lou was bought in for 4,400 guineas after winning a selling handicap at Pontefract last time, but now runs off a 12 pounds higher mark and a combination of that and a faster surface is enough to stop her from landing a double here. Molly's Secret scored earlier in the season at Brighton and is still on a reasonable mark, having run a close second at Warwick the time before last, but she is unproven at this trip. So we side with Thorntoun Gold, from the David Evans stable which is having such a good season at present. A winner four times last year, she has yet to get her head in front this season, but has put in some consistent runs nevertheless. She finished third over a mile and a quarter in a much better race here last time, and is now a pound lower than her last winning mark, so we take Thorntoun Gold to score.