mid-division, headway on outside from over 1f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, stayed on
tracked leaders on inside, switched right and chased leader over 1f out, ridden to have every chance inside final furlong, unable to quicken towards finish
slowly into stride, in rear, pushed along over 2f out, headway on inside approaching 1f out, kept on to go 4th inside final furlong
with leader until approaching 2f out, soon ridden, weakened final furlong
raced wide, always in rear
raced wide, chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up in rear, ridden over 2f out, never nearer
led, ridden over 2f out, driven over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
Alan McCabe has his runners in good form and Cerebus looks capable of winning again from this career-high mark, while Esteem Machine will be popular after going close last time. The latter was second in a 7f contest at Kempton last Sunday, but this drop back to 6f is not certain to suit the colt, who is also 11lb higher than his highest winning mark. Cerebus races from 4lb above his best win but receives weight from everything else here, acts on both types of artificial surface, and comes from a stable whose runners are performing, so we'll take on the favourite with him. Crimson King has his optimum trip but prefers the Southwell surface, so it remains to be seen how he will handle this. Our Blessing is back near a winning mark and is very interesting in a first-time visor, so look out for a gamble, but without that knowledge we'll take Cerebus to score.
Esteem Machine (USA) 10-1 (8-8) Held up, headway 3f out, ridden over 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, no extra, 2nd of 10, 1/2l behind Vitznau (9-4) at Kempton 7f hcp 0-100 (2) pol.
Manchurian 25-1 (8-13) Keen hold, chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 7th of 12, 3 1/2l behind Troubadour (8-13) at Lingfield 1m hcp 0-95 (3) pol in Oct.
Crimson King (IRE) 2-1fav (8-8) Towards rear, ridden halfway, never reached challenging position, 5th of 7, 14l behind Evens And Odds (9-4) at Southwell 6f hcap (3) fbs in Feb.
Lucayos 33-1 (8-5) With winner, pushed along over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 9th of 13, 4 1/2l behind King of Dixie (9-4) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-90 (3) pol.
Forest Dane 20-1 (8-7) Towards rear, never dangerous, 8th of 13, 4l behind King of Dixie (9-4) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-90 (3) pol.
Our Blessing (IRE) 15-2 (9-0) Keen, prominent, under pressure and beaten when hung left over 2f out, 7th of 8, 14l behind Holbeck Ghyll (9-0) at Kempton 6f hcp (4) std.
Banjo Patterson 25-1 (8-13) Always in rear, last of 10, well behind Paper Talk (9-11) at Newmarket 7f hcp 0-105 (2) gd in Aug '06.
Cerebus 9-1 (8-12) Always prominent, ridden when edged left over 1f out, kept on towards finish, 5th of 9, 3/4l behind Judge 'n Jury (9-1) at Warwick 5f hcp 0-75 (5) sft.
