prominent, pulled hard to over 2f out, soon ridden and weakened
chased leaders, effort and every chance over 1f out, no impression final furlong
held up and behind, effort under pressure 2f out, soon no chance
prominent early, behind over 4f out, hard ridden over 2f out, one pace
soon narrow leader, headed over 2f out, soon ridden and weakened quickly final furlong
tracked narrow leader, led over 2f out, hard driven over 1f out, headed well inside final furlong, no extra close home
behind, beaten when switched right over 1f out, kept on one pace
towards rear, driven over 2f out, soon beaten
slowly into stride, in rear, 10th straight, ridden and kept on well final furlong, nearest finish
held up and behind, headway wide over 1f out, chased leader inside final furlong, went 2nd close home
chased leaders going well 2f out, shaken up over 1f out, led well inside final furlong, readily
John Gosden has a good strike rate here and the Manton handler can add to the tally with Smoking Barrels. The TEAMtalk selection is a well-bred sort being a half-brother to 2001 Royal Hunt Cup hero Surprise Encounter amongst others, and showed plenty of promise on his Newmarket debut earlier in the month. The son of Desert Prince showed his inexperience in the early stages but picked up well once the penny dropped and gave every indication that a race of this nature will be within his compass. Meelup has shown a consistent level of form in similar company but is more exposed and lacks the scope for improvement of the selection. Gerard Butler's Jagger made no show on his debut and has a wide dtraw to overcome but Twentytwosilver showed some promise over course and distance earlier this month and should reach the frame.