held up in 4th, smooth headway on outside over 2f out, went 2nd approaching final furlong, stayed on to lead near finish
tracked leading pair, not clear run briefly on inside over 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed and no extra near finish
tracked leader, led over 2f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
held up last, headway on outside over 2f out, went 3rd inside final furlong, not pace to reach leading duo
led until ridden over 2f out, weakened quickly and soon behind
Rubensian bids for a hat-trick under a penalty having won over course and distance last week. He’s not out of this but SCATTERED STARS is less exposed. The Godolphin filly won a maiden race at Nottingham on her latest outing and is preferred to the other maiden winner Stratum, who landed the odds over a shorter trip at Windsor recently after a few near-misses. Della Valle is another stepping up in trip while Sam Missile has come up short in this grade so far and has returned a losing favourite on his last three starts now.
Sam Missile (IRE) 15-8fav (9-3) Tracked leaders, effort over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 4th of 8, 4 1/4l behind Rydan (9-7) at Salisbury 1m 4f hcp (4) gf in Sep.
Stratum 8-13fav (9-5) Made all, pressed after 1f, ridden clear over 2f out, eased inside final furlong, comfortable, won at Windsor 1m 2f mdn stks (5) gf in Aug beating Capton (9-5) by 8l, 11 ran.
Scattered Stars 11-10fav (8-13) Led 1f, tracked leader, led narrowly 2f out, ridden over 1f out, stayed on gamely final furlong, won at Newbury 1m 4f mdn stks (5) gf in Aug beating Henry Croft (9-4) by nk, 6 ran.
Rubensian 4-6fav (9-5) Held up in rear, headway over 2f out, led over 1f out, kept on well, won at Kempton 1m 4f hcp (5) pol in Sep beating Stamford Raffles (8-11) by 1 1/4l, 6 ran.
Della Valle (GER) 10-1 (9-1) Led, headed over 1f out, ridden inside final furlong, soon weakened, last of 4, 7 1/2l behind Haddajah (9-5) at Chelmsford City 1m 2f hcp fll (3) pol in Aug.
