led, ridden inside final 2f, headed and edged left entering final furlong, not quicken towards finish
slowly into stride, held up, not clear run, switched right over 2f out, headway over 1f out, not trouble leaders
always prominent, 2nd over 3f out, led entering final furlong, driven out
raced keenly, prominent, not much room over 3f out, soon ridden, no extra inside final furlong
soon towards rear, pushed along, ridden over 3f out, hung right, weakened over 2f out
held up, headway and hung left over 2f out, kept on inside final furlong
always prominent, raced keenly, edged left final furlong, ran on well towards finish
Winthorpe, Strathmore and Bentley form the shortlist here and the vote is given to Winthorpe. The selection lost no caste in defeat when chasing home Tag Team at Southwell last time. He is a multiple course and distance winner and from a decent draw he looks the form pick. Strathmore is the obvious danger as he was only a head behind Winthorpe here last time and on these terms they should be closely-matched again. Bentley was a beaten favourite at Wolverhampton last time, albeit by a short-head and his best form is probably over the minimum trip so we will narrowly pass him over today. Quiet Times has won 3 times over this course and distance so he is another that has to be afforded some respect. However, for the winner we will stick with Winthorpe.
Quiet Times (IRE) 15-2 (9-2) Chased leaders on outer, ridden over 2f out, no impression from over 1f out, 6th of 7, 8l behind Realt Na Mara (9-4) at Southwell 6f hcp (5) fbs.
Zarzu 7-1 (9-2) Tracked leaders, ridden and weakened soon after halfway, last of 10, 17l behind Sweet Pickle (9-2) at W'hampton 6f hcp 0-70 (5) pol in Nov.
Strathmore (IRE) 7-2 (8-8) Towards rear, soon chased along, headway over 1f out, ran on final furlong, 3rd of 8, 3/4l behind Tag Team (8-4) at Southwell 6f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs.
Winthorpe (IRE) 7-2 (8-6) Chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, driven and kept on final furlong, 2nd of 8, 1/2l behind Tag Team (8-4) at Southwell 6f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs.
Lucius Verrus (USA) 9-1 (9-0) Mid-division, hanging right 2f out, ridden and soon outpaced, 7th of 11, 7l behind Arfinnit (8-8) at Kempton 6f hcp (6) pol.
Guildenstern (IRE) 20-1 (8-13) In rear, switched right over 1f out, headway and switched left inside final furlong, finished well, 5th of 12, 1/2l behind Perlachy (8-12) at W'hampton 6f hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Dec.
Bentley 2-1fav (9-0) In touch, ridden 1f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, just failed, 2nd of 10, shd behind Ace Club (8-6) at W'hampton 5f hcp (6) pol in Dec.
Music Box Express 13-8fav (8-13) Slowly into stride, in rear, pushed along over 3f out, headway on outside over 2f out, weakened well over 1f out, 9th of 10, 9l behind Almaty Express (8-8) at W'hampton 5f hcp 0-65 (6) pol.