soon led at good pace, steadied halfway, pushed 2 lengths clear 2f out, headed 1f out, rallied reluctantly as winner idled in front near finish, held
held up in rear, headway on inside over 1f out, chased leaders final furlong, held towards finish
soon pushed along in rear, plenty to do 2f out, headway on outside over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong
in touch, pushed along halfway, weakened quickly over 2f out
mostly tracked leader, pushed along 3f out, ridden to lead 1f out, idled in front, held on near finish
behind, pushed along and no impression over 2f out, stayed on inside final furlong
chased leaders over 7f, virtually pulled up final 2f
in touch, ridden 4f out, eased when no chance final 2f
raced keenly, held up until tracked leaders over 7f out, ridden 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong
The vote in an interesting contest goes to Alessandro ahead of Wotchalike and Red Chairman. There was a lot to like about the way that Alessandro won on his debut and it is likely that mark of 76 will have understated his ability before too long. Now is the chance to start proving that and we will make him the selection in an interesting affair. With David Loder's stable in such good form, Red Chairman has to given the once over, as he showed Turf promise last season and is now stepped up in trip. Wotchalike's second to the Loder-trained Zabeel Palace from today's mark last time over course and distance was a decent effort and he too must be given a good chance. Dunmore Derry is well held based on that form. Pocketwood caused a surprise when scoring in a Wolverhampton maiden last time, but this has a much tougher look to it, while Etoile Russe and Dunmore Derry are closely weighted based on Southwell mile maiden form, and bear in mind that Dunmore Derry, who was backed at Lingfield last time, is now racing in first-time blinkers. Nan Jan is probably better than her current mark as she was a little unlucky in running from a two-pound higher mark two runs ago when not beaten far, but King After has been beaten from revised marks since scoring at Wolverhampton in December. However, King After is also three pounds better off for the two lengths he finished behind Tuvalu here over 10 furlongs last time. The latter could be improving now, though, and could go well. One final point is that, if you apply literal Union Jack Jackson form, King After has around five lengths to find with Wotchalike on today's terms. Given that James Given's runner surely ran below par behind Wotchalike, then it brings them closer together. It's just a thought but overall, for today, we prefer Alessandro.
