slowly into stride, held up towards rear, headway on inside over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, not pace to threaten
steadied start, held up in last pair, always behind
ran in snatches in touch in 5th, ridden over 2f out, never really on terms after
slowly into stride, in touch in 6th on inside, headway over 2f out, chased leading pair inside final furlong, one pace towards finish
towards rear, pushed along on outside and beaten when edged right over 2f out
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, soon weakened
towards rear, headway 2f out, chasing leaders when slightly hampered over 1f out, chased winner inside final furlong, strong challenge last strides, just failed (finished 2nd, awarded race)
chased leader, ridden to challenge and chance over 1f out, edged right inside final furlong, unable to quicken towards finish
restless in stalls, led, strongly pressed 2f out, soon ridden, headed over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
in rear, ridden over 1f out, some headway inside final furlong, never dangerous
Nonrunner
Dual Polytrack winner Nahab could have been better drawn, but it's not insurmountable if back to his best after a poor effort on the turf last time. Big Bay is another expected to improve for a return to this surface and Taqaat could figure after looking to find 1m2f at Ripon too far last time. Willow Dancer and the unexposed Latansaa also have claims in an open race, but the vote goes to MERCHANT OF MEDICI. Third over 7f here a fortnight ago, he won a higher grade race over C&D last month and a repeat effort today should see him back to winning ways.
Nahab 7-4fav (9-5) Close up, ridden 2f out, weakened final furlong, 6th of 7, 9l behind Wallis (9-3) at Yarmouth 1m fll hcp (0-85) (4yo+) (4) gf in May.
Sir George (IRE) 7-1 (9-5) Tracked leaders, ridden 3f out, weakened 1f out, 6th of 10, 16l behind Magic Cat (9-4) at Haydock 1m hcp 0-85 (4) gs.
Big Bay (USA) 33-1 (9-2) Pushed along mid-division, ridden and weakened over 1f out, last of 11, 19l behind Rustic Deacon (9-4) at Windsor 1m hcp 0-75 (5) gs.
Merchant Of Medici 3-1fav (9-10) Slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway on inside over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, never able to challenge, 4th of 13, 2 1/2l behind Thunderball (9-4) at Kempton 7f hcp 0-85 (4) pol.
Latansaa 9-4 (9-3) Tracked leader, led over 2f out, ridden and headed 1f out, no extra and lost 3rd post, 4th of 14, 5l behind Eton Forever (9-3) at Kempton 1m 3yo mdn stks (4) pol in May '10.
Willow Dancer (IRE) 7-2fav (10-0) Raced alone far side and well on terms, hard ridden and overall leader inside final furlong, all out, won at Lingfield 1m hcp 0-75 (5) sft beating Lastkingofscotland (9-11) by 1/2l, 10 ran.
Loyalty 20-1 (9-8) Towards rear, ridden over 1f out, kept on to take 3rd towards finish, 3rd of 13, 1 1/2l behind Shamir (10-0) at Kempton 1m hcp 0-85 (4) pol.
Sonoran Sands (IRE) 7-1 (8-11) Led, headed over 2f out, soon weakened, 5th of 6, 10l behind Common Touch (8-7) at York 7f 3yo hcp 0-100 (2) gd in May.
Taqaat (USA) 9-2 (9-6) Tracked leader, driven to challenge over 3f out, led over 2f out, hung right over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 2nd of 6, 2 3/4l behind Motivado (9-4) at Ripon 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-80 (4) gd in May.
Islesman 22-1 (9-1) Dwelt in rear, ridden and hung right over 1f out, never on terms, 9th of 11, 9l behind Johnny Castle (9-6) at Newmarket 7f 3yo hcp 0-85 (4) gs.
Stirling Bridge 12-1 (9-4) Held up in rear, ridden and effort 2f out, weakened over 1f out, eased, last of 11, 25l behind Sound Amigo (8-9) at Haydock 7f 3yo hcp 0-80 (4) gd in May.
Catchanova (IRE) 4-1 (9-8) Chased leaders, led 5f out, clear 2f out, stayed on until no extra inside final furlong, headed towards finish, 2nd of 12, nk behind Hip Hip Hooray (9-6) at Windsor 1m hcp 0-70 (5) gd.
