always behind
in touch, ridden over 3f out, soon beaten
held up in rear, headway over 3f out, effort 2f out, stayed on strongly to lead inside final furlong
tracked leaders, led over 3f out, headed and one paced inside final furlong
tracked leader, pushed along 4f out, soon ridden, weakened over 1f out
Spark Plug is an interesting one now blinkered for the first time but fellow three-year-old AYRAD is even more fascinating and is awarded a hopeful vote on this first run since contesting the French Derby, a run which came, of all things, on the back of a Hamilton maiden victory in May. He's presumably highly thought of by connections, has been given a good rest since Chantilly, should have plenty of improvement at three as a son of Dalakhani and isn't overfaced on this return to action. Haafguinea ran two cracking races in Meydan over the winter and he'll be a tough nut to crack if ready to roll on this first run since late January. The booking of Ryan Moore suggests that will be the case and he's a major threat. Fattsota and Highland Knight add further spice to an interesting contest for the O'Meara and Balding yards respectively and are far from out of it.
Fattsota 4-1 (9-5) Tracked leader, led over 2f out, pressed from over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, rallied to lead again near finish, won at Newmarket 1m 4f (2) gs beating Wigmore Hall (9-0) by nk, 6 ran.
Global Thrill (9-2) won at Saarbrucken(GER) 1m 1f stks gd in Jun, 7 ran.
Haafaguinea 5-2fav (8-8) 2nd of 14, 1/2l behind Saxo Jack (8-6) at Meydan(UAE) 1m 2f hcp gd in Jan.
Beacon Lady 25-1 (9-6) Held up in last pair, last and struggling over 4f out, plugged on but never a factor, 7th of 10, 9l behind Missunited (9-6) at Goodwood 1m 6f flls Group 3 stks (1) gf in Jul.
Ayrad (IRE) 33-1 (9-2) 11th of 16, 13l behind The Grey Gatsby (9-2) at Chantilly(FR) 1m 2f 3yo Grp 1 (1) gd in Jun.
Spark Plug (IRE) 9-2 (9-3) Steadied start, tracked leading pair, niggled along over 4f out, left 2nd just over 1f out, no chance with winner, 2nd of 3, 9l behind Arod (9-3) at Leicester 1m 2f con stks (3) gf in Jul.
Highland Knight (IRE) 4-1 (9-5) Tracked leaders, ridden and outpaced inside final 2f, weakened final furlong, last of 7, 16l behind Custom Cut (9-9) at Pontefract 1m Listed stks (1) gf in Jul.
