held up, headway over 3f out, disputed lead from 2f out, kept on strongly to lead close home
held up, ridden and headway 2f out, stayed on final furlong, not reach leaders
held up towards rear, headway over 3f out, soon weakened
prominent, joined leader 4f out to over 2f out, soon weakened
held up, ridden 4f out, stayed on inside final furlong, never dangerous
always prominent, challenged 3f out, disputed lead from 2f out, kept on inside final furlong, no extra close home
held up, brief effort on inside over 2f out, soon beaten
reminder after start, never better than mid-divison
never better than mid-division
held up towards rear, ridden 4f out, no headway final 3f
tracked leader to over 4f out, weakened quickly
mid-division, headway on inside over 3f out, weakend 2f out, eased when beaten
held up, effort 3f out, stayed on same pace final 2f
in touch, ridden and weakened 3f out
prominent, ridden 2f out, beaten when not much room well over 1f out, gradually weakened
held up towards rear, headway on outside well over 1f out, stayed on
led, ridden over 3f out, headed 2f out, no extra inside final furlong
Not as competitive as perhaps it first looks, with question to answer by most of the runners. Golden Lariat is the likely market leader for the in-form combination of Sir Michael Stoute and Kieren Fallon. Certainly, dropped 2lb since a six length defeat by Starzaan at Kempton last time makes him looks very interesting, but he still has to prove he genuinely gets this trip and is tentatively overlooked here. Counsel's Opinion has ability and top weight to show for it, but again he is far from certain to get this trip and is better over shorter. Saint Alebe put up a good display to win at Newmarket on his reappearance, and while Mamcazma didn't do anything special at York the other day, he ran well enough to suggest that the form of the Newmarket contest is solid enough. An 8lb rise for that two length success looks tough and he could be vulnerable to something lower in the weights here. One of those could be Barolo, who atoned for a defeat at Kempton when well-supported, by landing a 10 furlong handicap on good to soft at Newmarket last time, though whether he will get beyond that is also questionable. If he does stay then he should be thereabouts. However, we are going to look to the jumping game for our winner here and side with Green Ideal. Trained by national hunt maestro Nicky Henderson, the rains have come at the right time for the five-year-old who will enjoy a little give if it gets into the ground. Conditions were arguably too quick for him at Newmarket last time when eighth of 18 runners behind Saint Alebe, but the yard have a fantastic strike rate with their few runners on the flat this year, and over a trip that will suit he is the value in an open race.
