chased winner, ridden over 2f out, stayed on inside final furlong
held up, headway 3f out, ridden 2f out, no extra well inside final furlong
held up, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, never troubled leaders
in touch, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, eased over 1f out
made all, soon clear, ridden over 1f out, just held on
held up, ridden and hung left from over 2f out, kept on inside final furlong, never reached leaders
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, soon weakened
Mandatum is given a chance to atone for his unfortunate disqualification last time out and is taken to out battle Oddsmaker and Darghan on this occasion. The Composer is also worth a mention and nay support for him in the betting ring will be interesting in a tight little handicap like this. Darghan has a solid chance at the weights and comes here in good heart after winning last time out. He is holding his form well and can go close from what looks a potentially lenient mark. Oddsmaker was the main beneficiary when the saddle slipped on the selection here last month and he can be given a chance to uphold the form. However, he is now 6lb higher and, having run an ordinary race at Goodwood last week, he looks weighted to the hilt. Therefore, we prefer to stick with Mandatum, who has more scope to improve and, with the ground in his favour, he is expected to be hard to beat if he gives a true reflection of himself today.
Mandatum 2-1fav (9-7) Prominent, saddle slipped 8f out, ridden over 3f out, disputing 4th when lost weight cloth over 1f out, eased, 4th of 7, 6l behind Oddsmaker (8-5) at Haydock 1m 6f hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jul. Later dsq to last.
Mr Aitch (IRE) 10-1 (9-3) Held up in touch, ridden to lead over 1f out, kept on under pressure inside final furlong, won at Chester 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) gf beating Mobaasher (9-1) by 1/2l, 10 ran.
Count Kristo 6-1 (8-9) Chased leader after 1f, led 8f out, ridden and headed 3f out, weakened over 1f out, last of 7, 8l behind Pevensey (9-7) at Leicester 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) gf in Jul.
The Composer 8-1 (9-6) Tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, stayed on final furlong, 3rd of 8, 3l behind Gringo (9-10) at Haydock 1m 4f hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jul.
Oddsmaker (IRE) 16-1 (8-6) Led, headed 3f out, weakened qucikly, 17th of 20, 44l behind Key Time (9-1) at Goodwood 2m 5f hcp 0-95 (2) gf.
Neutrino 40-1 (9-7) In touch, ridden over 3f out, headway over 2f out, one pace when not much room over 1f out, eased well inside final furlong, last of 8, 6l behind Gringo (9-10) at Haydock 1m 4f hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jul.
Darghan (IRE) 6-1 (8-12) Held up, headway 2f out, led over 1f out, stayed on well, ridden out, won at Newbury 1m 3f hcp 0-75 (5) gf in Jul beating Hatch A Plan (8-10) by a nk, 8 ran.