slowly into stride, in touch, ridden to chase leading pair halfway, weakened 2f out
tracked leader, clear with leader 3f out, ridden to lead narrowly 2f out, headed narrowly entering final furlong, rallied to lead again inside final furlong, asserted near finish
prominent 2f, soon pushed along, weakened 3f out
close up, ridden over 3f out, headway to chase leading pair, over 1f out, not a threat to leading pair
held up, headway over 3f out, soon ridden, weakened over 1f out
led, clear with winner 3f out, ridden and headed narrowly 2f out, rallied to lead again narrowly entering final furlong, headed inside final furlong, no extra near finish
keen held up towards rear, headway over 2f out, kept on one pace, not a threat to leading pair
Croftamie won a similar race on fast ground at Catterick but has never run here and Minortransgression has never recovered the form shown when completing a hat-trick over the course and distance at the backend of 2011. The veteran Bold Marc beat River Ardeche in a seller here in November but ran moderately in a similar event here last time and though Michael's Nook has been going quite well on Polytrack he's only run once here. FLUCTUATION has won three times around here and, though not in the greatest of form, despite his figures he's slipped to a winnable mark and looks the one to beat.
Croftamie 14-1 (8-10) Tracked leader, led 5f out, driven over 3f out, ridden and headed inside final 2f, soon no chance with winner, held on for 2nd near finish, 2nd of 13, 11l behind Zenarinda (8-9) at Redcar 1m 2f sell stks (5) sft in Oct.
Fluctuation (IRE) 5-4 (8-13) Tracked leader, pushed along to chase winner over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, driven and stayed on towards finish, 2nd of 3, 1l behind Flying Pickets (9-4) at Southwell 7f sell stks (6) fbs in Feb.
Serjeant Buzfuz 33-1 (8-10) Mid-division, headway under pressure over 1f out, soon no impression, 10th of 11, 7l behind Kames Park (9-10) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f Handicap (0-63) (4yo+) (6) pol in Jan.
Minortransgression (USA) 5-2fav (8-12) In rear, outpaced halfway, headway to go 3rd over 1f out, kept on final furlong, nearest finish, 3rd of 7, 6l behind Our Ivor (8-7) at Southwell 1m hcp 0-65 (6) fbs in Feb.
Sir George (IRE) 9-1 (10-8) Chased leaders, ridden 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 9th of 10, 8l behind Flag Of Glory (10-7) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f am hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Feb.
Bold Marc (IRE) 7-1 (8-4) Prominent, led 3f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, kept on one pace, 4th of 8, 6l behind Caledonia Prince (8-12) at Southwell 1m 4yo clm stks 0-70 (6) fbs in Feb.
Michael's Nook 5-2fav (9-11) Towards rear, pushed along and headway over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 5th of 13, 2 3/4l behind Fleetwoodsands (9-7) at Kempton 7f hcp 0-50 (7) pol in Jan.
Visions of Johanna (USA) 16-1 (9-2) Tracked leaders on inside, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 11th of 12, 9l behind Schmooze (9-0) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Oct.