held up, effort under pressure 4f out, never dangerous
steadied start, held up and pulled hard, headway over 5f out, ridden and every chance over 2f out, one pace final furlong
led until over 8f out, soon weakened, tailed off
mid-division, steady headway 8f out, led 3f out, driven out
held up in touch, ridden and weakened 4f out
mid-division, lost touch halfway, tailed off
slowly into stride, always behind
in touch until weakened 7f out, tailed off
held up, headway 7f out, ridden over 3f out, stayed on same pace final 2f
held up in touch, ridden 5f out, weakened over 3f out
chased leaders, went 2nd 8f out, led 5f out until ridden and headed 3f out, weakened 2f out
chased leader after 3f, led over 8f out, headed over 5f out, weakened quickly, tailed off
This could be a good chance for Interstice to return to the winner's enclosure, with Ipledgeallegiance and Paradise Valley also having claims in a race where many still have to prove it over this trip. Interstice, has been contesting races over a range of trips around this mile and a half and most significantly, his best recent run of form came at the turn of the year, when he won three on the trot at Southwell and then finished second here, with three of those four races being over this distance. Although his recent turf form does not inspire confidence, now he is back on this surface we expect a big performance from him and he can score. Although 8lb worse off with the selection than official ratings would suggest, Ipledgeallegiance is a fairly capable individual who at least has experience of the track here. Admittedly, he has plummeted through the ratings recently, but Tony Culhane gets on well with him and can galvanise him to greater efforts on the fibresand. Of the remainder, Paradise Valley will have plenty of time to overcome an unfavourable draw, and won nicely at Leicester last time. However, the combination of a 4lb rise and an extra two furlongs are likely to prove his undoing here. So we will stick with our original selection, Interstice.
