held up, headway over 4f out, ridden to chase leader over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
slowly into stride, behind, ridden and headway over 2f out, soon weakened
chased leaders, lost place after 2f, not clear run over 4f out, ridden and headway over 3f out, ran on to lead well inside final furlong
held up, ridden and headway over 1f out, never reached leaders
tracked leaders, lost place over 5f out, weakened over 3f out
led, headed over 7f out, stayed prominent, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
prominent, hung right bend after 2f, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong
prominent, led over 7f out, ridden over 1f out, headed and no extra well inside final furlong
tracked leaders, carried wide bend after 2f, ridden 6f out, weakened over 3f out
tracked leaders, ridden 5f out, soon weakened
A number of these are old rivals and there would not be much to split them if this were to be run on a more conventional track. However, a handy position is an imperative and the back-to-form Bandari is fancied to confirm his superiority over Parasol - a game winner of this race last year - and Lago D'Orta, whose fruitful three-year-old campaign started with a comprehensive victory in a handicap on this card last year. Others to consider include: Hambleden, who is well berthed to suit his style of running and he has solid each-way claims. As does Grand Passion, whose turf form is much better than his all weather efforts and he will be suited by a true test if he runs to form. However, like many of the field, he has improvement to find if that scenario unfolds - as it is expected to play mainly to the strengths of the ultra consistent Bandari, who bounced back with a vengeance in the Champagne stakes last week.
