tracked leaders, ridden 4f out, edged left 2f out, soon headed, rallied gamely inside final furlong, led near finish
led until halfway, soon behind, tailed off
held up, shaken up and headway 5f out, led well over 1f out, ridden final furlong, headed near finish
keen behind leaders, weakened over 5f out, tailed off
keen tracking leaders, led halfway, headed 2f out, weakened over 1f out
with leader, ridden 5f out, lost place 4f out, regained 3rd final furlong
in touch, effort 6f out, one pace final 4f
Alderluck showed improved form from his debut outing when landing a Plumpton bumper in January but it is never easy to win in this grade under a penalty and Nick Gifford's gelding faces some interesting opponents here including dual point-to-point winner Another Display and Vodka Brook and it is the latter that gets the vote. The selection has found one too good in each of his two starts, latterly when narrowly beaten by Alan King's Divali Princess, with some decent looking types further behind, in a Taunton bumper and he looks the one to beat on that evidence. Brendan Powell's Never Lost showed some promise on his debut but needs to improve to trouble the judge as does Absolute Shambles and of more interest should be Another Display. David Pipe's gelding has shown decent form in point-to-points and has to be of interest on his rules debut but it is hard to get away from Vodka Brook, who gets the vote.
Alderluck (IRE) 7-1 (11-5) Held up, headway 4f out, stayed on well to lead final furlong, won at Plumpton 2m 2f nhf (6) sft in Jan beating Ballydub (11-5) by 2l, 12 ran.
Jumpthequw (IRE) 40-1 (11-4) Tailed off halfway, last of 13, well behind Ashleys Petale (10-4) at Fontwell 1m 6f mdn nhf (6) gd in Feb.
Vodka Brook (IRE) 5-2jt-fav (11-5) Held up, headway halfway, led over 2f out, headed well inside final furlong, 2nd of 14, nk behind Divali Princess (10-1) at Taunton 2m 1f mdn nhf (5) sft in Jan.
Cinderbanks Alflora mare out of winning miler Charmeille.
Never Lost 33-1 (10-11) Held up mid-division, headway over 2f out, kept on well inside final furlong, never nearer, 5th of 18, 10l behind Dayia (10-6) at Huntingdon 2m mrs nhf (5) gs in Feb.
Absolute Shambles 11-1 (10-5) Tracked leaders, ridden 5f out, soon one pace, 4th of 10, 21l behind Upham Atom (10-11) at Plumpton 2m 2f mdn nhf (6) sft in Feb.
How Are You Going (IRE) 66-1 (10-8) Mid-division, ridden and weakened over 4f out, 5th of 15, 24l behind Mahonia (11-4) at Chepstow 2m nhf (6) gs in Feb.
Another Display (IRE) (12-0) In touch, defied bad blunder 2 out to win at Carrigtwohill 3m ire ptp sft/hvy in Feb beating Silence Speaks (12-0) by 12l, 11 ran.
