held up in rear, ridden and headway on outside over 1f out, nearest finish
raced wide, held up, headway on outside over 1f out, nearest finish
tracked leaders, not much room over 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, ran on close home
with leaders, ridden and led over 1f out, soon headed, no extra inside final furlong
held up in rear, headway when not clear run from over 1f out, never nearer
keen in touch, ridden and weakened final furlong
raced wide, mid-division, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up in mid-division, outpaced over 2f out, switched right over 1f out, stayed on final furlong
pulled hard, held up, outpaced over 2f out, ran on well inside final furlong
with leader, led 2f out, soon headed and weakened
slowly into stride, towards rear, headway on outside over 1f out, ran on and led close home
dwelt, pulled hard, held up, headway on outside to lead 1f out, headed and no extra near finish
in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
There will be no hanging about here and although there is a strong temptation to side with the Italian raider Fast Gate as he makes his British debut, preference is for Royal Dignitary, who has fared well in the face of some stiff tests in Dubai over the last couple of months. There are no shortage of alternatives for each-way backers to try and squeeze a little more value out of the betting market and Hidden Dragon, Quito and Digital are all capable of tagging on to the back of a strong pace and are lively contenders to be finishing with a flourish. However, the same can be said of Royal Dignitary, who has not really endured the best of fortune since ridding himself of the maiden tag under a power-packed ride from Jamie Spencer at Thirsk last season. However, that form is rock-solid in the context of this race and, with Johnny Murtagh now doing the steering, this could finally be the day that Royal Dignitary underlines his potential with a second career win. Arctic Desert is another that has to come into the argument as he hails from a yard that are flying at the moment. However, he is held by the selection on last season's form and may just need this today.