led, never travelling and niggled along most of the way, driven along halfway, headed 5f out, weakened quickly soon after
chased leader, led 5f out, driven clear final 2f, stayed on strongly
held up in rear, headway on outside 4f out, went 3rd 2f out, plugged on into 2nd final 150 yards, no chance with winner
held up in last pair, headway 10f out, 3rd halfway, 2nd 5f out, no chance with winner from 2f out and lost 2nd final 150 yards
took keen hold, in touch, driven along, one pace final 2f
took keen hold, close up, not handled downhill gradient into straight, driven 3f out and soon weakened
chased leaders until halfway, soon lost place, tailed off
It would be no surprise to see Casual Garcia bounce back from a lacklustre seasonal reapperance but we will side with TRIBE; Little Sark also makes the shortlist. The selection was runner-up off this mark two starts ago and ran well enough from a pound higher at Newmarket next time. Sir Mark Prescott's Casual Garcia trailed home a well-beaten last of 11 at Ascot first-time-out but the stable were under a cloud at the time and he has been given plenty of time to recover. Typically progressive for the yard last season, we may not have seen the best of him yet. Little Sark will be tested over this trip for the first time and it could be the change the gelding needs. He has found improvement for every step up in trip so far and is a danger to all if the upward curve continues. Swordsman and Witcombe Spirit look best of the remainder but our pick goes the way of Tribe.
Casual Garcia 11-2 (8-11) Led, ridden and headed 7f out, weakened quickly over 4f out, tailed off, last of 11, well behind Judgethemoment (9-9) at Ascot 2m hcp 0-90 (3) gf in May.
Swordsman (GER) 16-1 (8-10) Made most, pushed along and strongly pressed from 3f out, narrow advantage and kept on gamely until unable to quicken and headed final 100 yards, 2nd of 7, 3/4l behind Kasban (8-10) at Folkestone 2m hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jun.
Mohawk Star (IRE) 16-1 (8-6) Mid-division, ridden and effort over 2f out, no impression over 1f out, kept on one pace, 6th of 10, 4l behind Judgethemoment (9-5) at Kempton 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Apr.
Tribe 7-2 (8-7) Mid-division, headway over 5f out, ridden and effort over 2f out to over 1f out, one pace final furlong, 6th of 10, 7l behind Markington (8-3) at Newcastle 2m hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jun.
Whitcombe Spirit 6-1 (9-1) Led, ridden 2f out, headed over 1f out, kept on same pace, lost 2nd post, 3rd of 12, 6l behind Miss Keck (9-5) at Newcastle 2m hcp 0-65 (6) gd in Jun.
Fixation 66-1 (8-11) Mid-division, weakened over 2f out, 13th of 15, 21l behind Turjuman (8-10) at Windsor 1m 4f hcp 0-70 (5) gf in Jun.
Little Sark (IRE) 20-1 (8-11) Prominent, ridden 3f out, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong, just failed to get 2nd, 3rd of 13, 3l behind Starstruck Peter (8-10) at Chepstow 1m 4f hcp 0-60 (6) gf.
