chased leader, pushed along over 5f out, hard ridden and weakened over 2f out, eased final furlong
led, ridden 4f out, headed 3f out, weakened over 1f out
held up, headway over 4f out, led 3f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, all out to lead near finish
mid-division, pushed along halfway, kept on one pace final 2f
held up, driven 5f out, headway over 2f out, kept on and edged left final furlong
chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened
mid-division, headway over 4f out, weakened final 2f
in touch, ridden over 2f out, led over 1f out, kept on and headed near finish
chased leaders, ridden and lost place over 5f out, behind final 4f
held up, headway over 4f out, kept on same pace final 2f
always behind, tailed off and eased over 3f
in touch, lost place over 5f, tailed off over 3f out
Paul Cole has a good strike rate on the all-weather tracks and,in a weak affair, is taken to strike with Strictly Speaking. The son of Sri Pekan is clearly one of the lesser lights at Whatcombe but failed to stay two miles last time and looks capable of going close here if able to reproduce the same level of form that saw him finish second in a claimer at Wolverhampton in September. Dangers are thin on the ground but Marking Time has shown enough to suggest he can give a good account while Red Storm has a chance of sorts at the weights. Lively Felix was disappointing last time but previous placed efforts give him a chance while Rudetski comes here in fair form and shouldn't be dismissed in a desperate heat.