held up in 5th, well off the pace, bumped and checked over 3f out soon switched right driven and ran on same pace final
led and set good pace headed 4f out, stayed pressing leader, still chance approaching 2f out, weakened over 1f out
raced in fourth, went second 5f out, led briefly 4f out, weakened 2f out
held up well in rear, well off the pace, effort on wide outside over 2f out, no impression
held up in rear, well off the pace, headway and not clear run 2f out, stayed on under pressure to take 3rd final 100 yards
winner, tracked leading pair to go in easily, led 2f out, soon clear, driven and stayed on strongly final furlong
dwelt, held up in rear, headway from 4f out, went second under pressure over 1f out, kept on final furlong, no chance with winner
held up and behind, well off the pace, headway when not clear run over 3f out, stayed on final furlong, never near to challenge
held up in 6th, well off the pace, not much room on rail, over 3f out, weakened 2f out
tracked leader to 5f out, weakened quickly 3f out
Mana d'Argent loves it here, and with Pat Eddery drawn to ride him, can gain his sixth course success. In fact, this is the only track that the Mark Johnston-trained gelding has won at. He finished behind his stable companion Knavesmire Omen in a falsely-run race at Goodwood last time (in which Moon Emperor was further behind, but Random Quest was just ahead of him in third), but could well reverse the form back at the Royal venue. Unleash is an obvious danger, having been raised just five pounds for win in Newcastle's Northumberland Plate. The lightly-raced Shabernak ran a best-yet to be third behind Darasim at Goodwood last time, but is trying a new trip now. Archduke Ferdinand has not won since landing the Northumberland Plate two years ago and offered up little encouragement on his return to action this season six days ago. Tom Paddington has some fair placed efforts to his name this season, but a bit more is probably required. It's Mana d'Argent, then, to land what would prove to be a very popular success.
