slowly into stride, in rear, switched left 2f out, headway and hung left over 1f out, never on terms
prominent, led 4f out, headed 3f out, driven over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, unable to quite catch winner
held up, headway over 2f out, never threatened
prominent, led 3f out, driven over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra towards finish
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, stayed on same pace from over 1f out
led 1f, driven over 2f out, soon weakened
chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, soon lost place
chased leaders, switched right 2f out, went 2nd over 1f out, driven to lead inside final furlong, held on
This wouldn’t be the strongest Group 3 ever staged here. Equilateral has always been held in high regard and came good in a Listed race at Doncaster 10 days ago but only had a head to spare over the rallying Queen’s Gift, beaten three-quarters-of-a-length by Judicial in a similar contest at Beverley earlier. Queen’s Gift is trained by Michael Dods, who runs the much-improved DAKOTA GOLD in this. The five-year-old had no problem with the step up to Listed company last time at York and can complete the five-timer. Hit The Bid has won twice at this level and should be approaching peak fitness so Darren Bunyan’s charge makes more appeal than the other Irish raider, Blue Uluru, and the others.
Keystroke (9-4) 6th of 10, 6 1/4l behind Spinning Memories (8-12) at Deauville 6f Grp 3 gd in Aug.
Dakota Gold 11-8fav (9-2) Hampered start, made virtually all, hard driven when pressed over 1f out, ran on strongly, won at York 6f lst stks (1) gd in Sep beating Danzeno (9-2) by 1 3/4l, 9 ran.
Equilateral 9-4 (9-11) Tracked leaders, pushed along switched left inside final furlong, ridden and stayed on to lead final strides, won at Doncaster 5f lst stks (1) gf in Sep beating Queens Gift (9-6) by hd, 7 ran.
Hit The Bid 14-1 (9-4) Raced in 5th early, 9th before halfway, pushed along under 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong, 8th of 11, 3 1/2l behind Fairyland (9-0) at Curragh 5f Grp 1 stks (1) gd in Sep.
Judicial (IRE) 13-2 (9-2) Chased leaders, ridden to lead over 1f out, ran on well, won at Beverley 5f lst stks (1) gd in Aug beating Queens Gift (8-11) by 3/4l, 10 ran.
Ornate 6-1 (9-2) Led until over 1f out, faded final furlong, 6th of 10, 3 1/2l behind Judicial (9-2) at Beverley 5f lst stks (1) gd in Aug.
Blue Uluru (IRE) 12-1 (10-0) Soon prominent, raced near side, pushed along from 2f out, kept on without matching front pair inside final furlong, 3rd of 12, 2 3/4l behind Cityman (8-10) at Navan 5f hcp gf in Sep.
Maid In India (IRE) 3-1fav (9-7) Prominent, towards stands side, weakened well over 1f out, 15th of 16, 8 1/4l behind Rebecca Rocks (9-4) at Ayr 5f lst fll stks (1) gd in Jun.