led, headed approaching 2f out, ridden well over 1f out, soon weakened, eased final furlong
chased leaders, ridden to chase winner over 1f out, no impression, eased inside final furlong
chased leader, led approaching 2f out, pushed clear over 1f out, eased towards finish
in rear, ridden halfway, soon weakened, tailed off
A small field for this handicap and the nod goes to Mount Hadley ahead of Tobosa. The last-named is likely to feature prominently in the betting given his consistent level of form. He must be an obvious danger, however he takes a while to really wind up his challenge and whilst he has won in small fields before, if this is tactical then he may just find himself tapped for toe late on. Instead then, we will side with Mount Hadley. Now in the Godolphin blue, the selection tries a visor for the first time to iron out any concentration wrinkles. His prominent style of running means that he may be able to dictate to this small field, and this former Ed Dunlop inmate gets our nomination. Rock Of Veio is an unknown; formerly trained in Italy, he has his first run for Peter Chapple-Hyam and the market may tell it's own story for this son of Rock Of Gibraltar. Little Darlin completes the field but looks out of his depth, so we will return to Mount Hadley as the winner.
Mount Hadley (USA) (8-8) Prominent, challenged over 1f out, ran on to lead near finish, won at Nad Al Sheba 7f stk gd in Mar beating Truly Royal (8-9) by nk, 10 ran.
Rock of Veio (IRE) (8-11) Raced in 5th, ridden over 2f out, unable to quicken, 8th of 11, 10l behind Selmis (8-11) at Capannelle 1m lst stk gs in Apr.
Tobosa 7-2jt-fav (9-0) Held up, ridden 3f out, steady progress from 2f out, ran on well inside final furlong, just failed, 3rd of 9, nk behind Dubai's Touch (9-4) at Goodwood 1m 3yo lst stk (1) gf in Aug.
Little Darlin 80-1 (8-4) Chased winner until over 3f out, soon behind, last of 4, well behind Before You Go (9-0) at Newmarket 1m 4f stk (2) gf in Aug.
