slowly away, green and always outpaced in rear
soon pushed along in rear, struggling halfway, no real progress until stayed on past weakening horses final 1f
took keen hold early, chased leaders, hard ridden over 1f out, kept on to take 3rd 1f out, never going pace to reach front pair
slowly away, rapid headway and went prominent 5f out, under pressure 3f out, weakened quickly over 2f out
chased leaders, tracked winner going well 3f out, ridden, edged left and found little inside final 2f, weakened over 1f out
chased leaders, pushed along halfway, weakened 2f out
held up in rear, switched left and good headway towards stand rail over 2f out, chased winner over 1f out, strong challenge and every chance throughout final furlong until found no extra, held near finish
made all, hard driven and strongly pressed throughout final furlong, stayed on gamely
slowly away, mainly behind
chased winner to 3f out, soon ridden, weakened quickly over 2f out
SEA LORD is the nominal pick, it would be no surprise to see Excellent Guest go well but they look a nice bunch on paper. Almutaham is likely to need a stiffer test as may Pounced who is a half-brother to Pampas Cat and Big Bound whilst Valiant Knight is out of a middle-distance winner. Excellent Guest runs in the colours of the sponsor of the first two races and looks ready for this step up in trip having stayed on quite strongly at Windsor in a maiden won by a promising colt. Fireback was well held here on debut but was very slowly away and will be sharper now. He may well fare considerably better as may High Holborn who only beat a couple home at Newmarket but the yard did win this with 33-1 shot City Leader two years back. Kevin Shea isn't back in the saddle again aboard Gene Autry but Richard Hughes does take over following the colt's highly encouraging debut behind smart stablemate Emerald Commander last week; he's interesting on that evidence. White Dart will need to leave his debut form far behind but Sea Lord wouldn't need to improve dramatically on his second to Dubawi Phantom at Epsom and this Gimcrack entry is selected to go one better.
Almutaham (USA) Dynaformer colt out of Forest Lady.
Big Wave Bay (IRE) Alamshar colt out of Lady Pahia.
Excellent Guest 11-2 (8-12) Reared badly leaving stalls, behind, good headway on far rail when hampered over 2f out, soon switched right and ran on inside final furlong, 4th of 16, 7l behind Classic Colori (9-3) at Windsor 6f 2yo mdn (5) gf.
Fireback 10-1 (9-0) Slowly away, well behind when reminders halfway, made some late headway, 6th of 11, 11l behind Trailblazing (9-3) at Ascot 6f 2yo mdn (3) gd.
Gene Autry (USA) 20-1 (9-3) Slowly into stride, headway on far rail just inside final 2f, stayed on inside final furlong, 4th of 14, 6l behind Emerald Commander (9-3) at Newbury 7f 2yo mdn (4) sft.
High Holborn (IRE) 20-1 (9-3) Slowly into stride, always in rear, 12th of 15, 17l behind Elusive Pimpernel (9-3) at Newmarket 7f 2yo mdn (2) gd.
Pounced (USA) Rahy colt out of Golden Cat.
Sea Lord (IRE) 9-2 (9-3) Tracked leader, ridden and every chance 2f out, stayed on to take 2nd close home, 2nd of 9, 1 1/4l behind Dubawi Phantom (9-3) at Epsom Downs 7f 2yo mdn (4) gd.
Valiant Knight (FR) Night Shift colt out of Pilgrim Of Grace.
White Dart 6-1 (9-3) Mid-division, on outside, pushed along 3f out, weakened well over 1f out, 7th of 10, 10l behind Blakey's Boy (9-3) at Salisbury 7f 2yo mdn (4) sft.
