held up, headway 3f out, ridden over 2f out, kept on final furlong, no chance with winner
in touch, driven over 4f out, soon weakened
prominent on outside, led over 3f out, ridden and headed over 2f out, one pace
held up behind, effort over 3f out, soon weakened
held up, ridden and headway when not much room over 3f out, kept on
towards rear, headway and not much room 3f out, weakened over 1f out
tracked leaders and keen, lost place over 5f out, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
mid-division, ridden 4f out, one pace 2f out, eased inside final furlong
in rear, ridden and headway on outside 4f out, kept on one pace
always prominent, ridden over 3f out, led over 2f out, clear final furlong, easily
led, ridden and headed over 3f out, weakened over 2f out
A tricky finale but The Persuader is a strong recommendation ahead of Starry Lodge, Wasted Talent and Sir Sidney. Mark Johnston's charge stepped up appreciably on previous efforts when a most decisive winner of a mile and three quarters on his handicap debut at Nottingham last week. The lightly raced three-year-old impressed in the way he travelled through the race before making his move early in the straight and won with something to spare over a fancied rival with the pair well clear. There should be plenty more to come from this progressive type who won't be inconvenienced by the return to this shorter trip and has been handed a favourable low draw. Starry Lodge represents the in-form Luca Cumani and the son of Grand Lodge comes here on a hat-trick bid after securing recent wins at Warwick and Redcar for today's apprentice rider so has to be respected despite a further 5lb rise. Wasted Talent and Sir Sidney are both consistent types who can be guaranteed to be in the shake up once again while Web Perceptions ran well in the first time blinkers last time but surprisingly the headgear has been removed on this occasion and he looks best watched over this longer trip.
