very slowly into stride, soon tailed off
in touch, took closer order over 3f out, ridden and weakened over 2f out
mid-division, outpaced 4f out, ridden and one pace 3f out
chased winner throughout, ridden to challenge over 1f out, hung left inside final furlong, just failed
made about all, 4 lengths clear halfway until challenged over 1f out, ridden and hung right inside final furlong, just held on
slowly into stride, behind until effort on wide outside over 2f out, weakened 1f out
dwelt, behind until headway 5f out, kept on under pressure final furlong
mid-division, ridden and weakened rapidly over 3f out
in touch throughout, ridden and effort over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
The combination of a return to an artificial surface and the booking of Darryll Holland is enough to swing the vote in favour of Yalla, who selected ahead of Blonde En Blonde and Futuristic - although the in-form Mandarin Spirit is entitled to respect after an impressive performance at Catterick last time. However, he has to prove that was not just a one-off effort and may be best left alone for win only purposes at this trip on this surface. Blonde en Blonde is also a hard horse to predict so a small interest on the William Haggas-trained Yalla could be the safest option in a tricky little heat.
