raced wide, in touch, ridden 3f out, driven and went 3rd inside final furlong, stayed on towards finish
chased winner until ridden over 1f out, driven and kept on same pace
chased leaders, ridden and weakened over 2f out
in rear, never a factor
pulled hard, in touch, headway to chase winner over 1f out, driven and stayed on towards finish
chased winner until 3f out
made all, ridden 2f out, driven and all out
slowly into stride, ridden and headway 3f out, no impression final 2f
in rear, ridden halfway, some headway over 1f out, never nearer
Convince brings recent winning form to the table but may struggle to contain MADISON BELLE at these weights, with Electric Warrior best of the rest. John Weymes' filly has done all of her winning here and has a mark of 65 to show for it, so as a proven performer on the surface who is clear best-in at the weights she rates an automatic pick. It is a slight concern that she's shown little zest in recent outings, but this drop to selling company should help her to recapture something like her best form and that should be enough. Conversely, Convince has a bit of work to do at the weights even to finish second, but the gelding did well to dead-heat last time and can usually be relied upon to run to form here. That is enough for us to put him up as the forecast linker ahead of Electric Warrior, another whose form figures detract slightly from his otherwise obvious prospects. However, the yard are going well and their seven-year-old has proved remarkably consistent on artificial surfaces so is without doubt an each-way player in this heat. Kings Ace ran well in a claimer last time and holds a few of these on that run, but of more interest is Boss Hog whose two efforts this year have been only moderate but he's a course and distance winner who should be competitive in this company. Miss Xu Xia is unexposed and should improve for her comeback third, an effort that followed a year-long absence, so she's worth a market check, whilst Sairaam is the only other to make any appeal although she would still rate a surprise winner. There are a few who have claims in what is a competitive seller, but our preference is for Madison Belle.
Convince (USA) 9-1 (8-11) Towards rear, driven 3f out, headway over 1f out, stayed on strongly to join leader post, won at Southwell 7f hcp (6) fbs in Dec deadheating with Headache (8-13), 11 ran.
Boss Hog 8-1 (8-1) Held up in touch, hard ridden over 1f out never on terms, 8th of 10, 10l behind Elusive Warrior (9-2) at Southwell 7f hacp 0-70 (5) fbs.
Electric Warrior (IRE) 8-1 (9-8) Led, headed over 5f out, weakened over 3f out, last of 8, well behind Daniel Thomas (8-13) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f app sll stks (6) pol in Dec.
Favouring (IRE) 150-1 (8-2) Pressed leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong, 5th of 8, 8l behind Total Impact (9-5) at Southwell 6f clm stks (6) fbs.
Kings Ace (IRE) 8-1 (8-2) Held up, raced keenly, headway 3f out, not clear run and switched left well over 1f out, no impression on front pair when switched right inside final furlong, 3rd of 8, 3l behind Total Impact (9-5) at Southwell 6f clm stks (6) fbs.
Owed 100-1 (9-2) Took keen hold, headway to lead over 4f out, headed over 2f out, soon weakened, last of 8, 27l behind Total Impact (9-5) at Southwell 6f clm stks (6) fbs.
Lady Kingston 100-1 (8-9) Held up, weakened over 2f out, last of 9, 27l behind Servoca (9-0) at Wolverhampton 6f mdn stks (5) pol in Mar.
Madison Belle 20-1 (8-13) Held up, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, last of 6, 23l behind Transmission (9-5) at Southwell 7f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs.
Miss Xu Xia Evensfav (8-10) Dwelt, in rear, headway 3f out, ridden to chase leaders over 1f out, no extra, 3rd of 5, 13l behind Cause For Applause (8-7) at Southwell 1m 3yo sell stks (6) fbs in Jan '09.
Sairaam (IRE) 11-2 (8-6) In touch, lost place over 2f out, switched right over 1f out, one pace, 6th of 10, 8l behind Lyrical Intent (8-11) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-50 (7) pol.
