slowly into stride, held up in rear, pushed along over 2f out, ridden and kept on same pace final furlong
led, ridden and headed over 1f out, soon weakened
tracked leader, ridden to lead over 1f out, held on well towards finish
tracked leaders, headway and effort 2f out, one pace final furlong
held up in touch, pushed along over 2f out, headway and effort approaching final furlong, stayed on to chase winner inside, held towards finish
Not a particularly competitive finale and Stretton should be good enough to land this from a small field, with in-form Cripsey Brook the likely bridesmaid. The selection is genuine and normally consistent with it, though he didn't have the best of starts this year. However, he put that to rights with a decent effort over a mile at York last time and with ground to suit and the return to 10 furlongs in his favour, he should be cherry ripe here. Cripsey Brook has looked progressive lately, winning here in May and then just failing to defy a penalty back over course and distance next time. Another success despite a further 3lb rise last time was an excellent effort, but upped a further 6lb again and carrying more than he would if this were a handicap compared to Strensall, he may just struggle to peg back the top weight here. Explode is on the downgrade but has shown much more than this in the past and can chase them home in third, but the vote to 'get you out' goes to Strensall.
