chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened 2f out
towards rear, ridden and headway when not clear run 1f out, stayed on, not reached leaders
made all, ridden over 1f out, ran on well
in touch, headway over 4f out, ridden over 2f out, weakening when not much over 1f out
not much room soon after start, towards rear, ridden and headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, not reach winner
keen, chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, weakened final furlong
behind, kept on final furlong, never dangerous
prominent, ridden 3f out, not much room over 1f out, kept on
mid-division, ridden over 2f out, no impression
in touch, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on
mid-division, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out
mid-division, headway over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, one pace inside final furlong
prominent, ridden 3f out, weakened inside final furlong
mid-division, effort when hampered over 1f out, soon weakened
The maximum field of 18 runners does not make this easy to solve but with a low draw and advantage the winner is likely to come from one of those boxed closest to the inside rail with Retirement preferred to Nashaab and Chappel Cresent. The last mentioned is the best berthed of all 18 runners in stall one and has to be respected, while Nashaab, although out of form, has the assistance of Kieren Fallon. H Harrison is gradually slipping to an attractive mark and is another worthy of a favourable mention along with Mark Brisbourne's Smirfys Systems. However, Retirement comes here on the back of a five-length win at Ascot last week and a 3lb penalty is unlikely to stop him. The Mark Tompkins-trained gelding is well berthed and gets a confident vote. Tim Easterby's Raphael finally came good when scoring at Thirsk on Saturday but has been done no favours with a draw in stall 12, while Digital, who advertised his well being when third in Kempton's Jubilee Stakes on Monday has faired little better in stall 11. There are plenty of others with claims on form but with the draw, ground and weights all in his favour, Retirement is difficult to oppose and he gets the vote.
