always behind, struggling final 2f
held up in mid-division, headway when struck on head by rival whip over 1f out, hard ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on
slight lead, ridden 2f out, headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong
with leaders, ridden and every chance 2f out, soon weakened
in touch, ridden and headway over 2f out, chased winner and every chance inside final furlong, ran on but always just held
behind, ridden over 2f out, not much room on rails over 1f out, ran on towards finish
chased leaders, hard ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up in mid-division, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, every chance inside final furlong, unable to quicken towards finish
chased leaders on inside rail, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed and not quicken inside final furlong
dwelt, behind, no impression final 2f
soon outpaced and pushed along in rear, well behind from halfway
held up in mid-division, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
always in rear, struggling from halfway
A fascinating race for the Windsor Castle in which Dark Cheetah, Age Of Kings, Elsie Hart, Tournedos and Juantorena form our shortlist of possible winners, with the selection being Tournedos. Looking at the field. It is very hard to assess just how good the Aidan O'Brien-trained Dark Cheetah is. Much as he won his maiden, a four-runner affair, very easily despite running green, the bare form of the race is nothing to write home about. However, the son of Storm Cat could hardly have left a better impression and O'Brien's juveniles always have to be respected at this meeting. The same can be said of Mark Johnston's two-year-olds although It is surprising to see Royal Island dropped in trip following a battling second in the seven-furlong Woodcote Stakes at Epsom last time. The beautifully-bred Age Of Kings, who cost $280,000 as a yearling, is pitched in at the deepish end on only his second run, having finished third in a Salisbury maiden on his racecourse debut. He was very green on that occasion, missed the break and then was flying at the finish. He should have learned a lot from that run and, with his trainer a very shrewd and capable operator, he has to be respected, although the runner-up and fifth from that Salisbury race have since been beaten. Tim Easterby won this race in 1998 with Flanders, who was heavily supported, so a market move for that filly's half-sister Elsie Hart, would be interesting. She won well despite running green on her debut and showed improved form to finish third at York last time. She has yet to race on going faster than good to soft but holds a likeable profile and could go well. When she was third at York, Mick Channon's Umniya was second, so he holds a good line on the value of the form of Tim Easterby's runner. Also, Channon has won this race twice in the last five years with Kalindi and last year's scorer Holborn. He runs Tournedos today, a colt he has compared fairly favourably with Turnkey, who will by now have run in the Coventry Stakes on this card. If you take literal formlines involving Polly Perkins and Moscow Music then Channon's runner comes out marginally better than Alpaga le Jomage and Next Time Around, and we take him to confirm that form and, in turn, run a big race. Chateau Istana improved for better going to score impressively at Leicester last time and he could go well today, along with the Godolphin representative Satsoof, who was an expensive loser on his debut but should have benefited greatly from that run. Safari Sunset won nicely on his debut but the form is run-of-the-mill. That said, he created a favourable impression on that occasion, while Juantorena is also interesting. Much as he was turned over at odds-on at Newcastle last time, he looks the type to improve for racing and, with his trainer having won this race with Revenue two years ago, he knows what it takes to land the prize. Bold Marc has done little wrong to date, winning two of his four races although this represents his toughest task to date. In conclusion, then, this race is a fairly good one for market leaders, with three of the last nine having won and a further two having finished runner-up. Bearing in mind also that seven of the last nine winners of this race have been drawn 10 or higher, then Tournedos, drawn in stall 12 and, as we have said, representing a stable with a good record in this contest, gets the call.
