tracked leaders, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed and no extra inside furlong, weakened towards finish
led to halfway, weakened rapidly, eased final 2f, tailed off
tracked leader, effort well over 1f out, not quicken, stayed on one pace
stumbled start, behind, effort 2f out, no extra over 1f out, kept on one pace
held up, headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, nearest finish
steadied start, held up in rear, steady headway 2f out, driven to lead inside final furlong, all out
held up towards rear, headway 2f out, stayed on final furlong, not reached leaders
held up, some progress over 1f out, never dangerous
held up towards rear, headway and effort over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, always held
in touch, led well over 3f out, headed over 1f out, weakened
tracked leaders to over 2f out, soon weakened
behind, headway 2f out, stayed on when snatched up near finish
Our shortlist for his good prize consists of Ace Of Hearts, Capable Guest and Seulement, with the vote going to Ace Of Hearts. A valuable Sandown mile handicap looks possibly to hold the key to this race. In it, Ace Of Hearts finished second to the progressive Hinterland, with the unlucky-in-running Capable Guest in fourth and Luca Cumani's Seulement tenth. Firstly, let us say that we feel that Seulement, who travelled well for a long way on that occasion, will be more at home on this flatter track. On top of that, Capable Guest only saw daylight late on and left the impression that he would have at least finished second with a clear passage. The fact remains, though, that Ace Of Hearts did beat the pair of them and he remains on a competitive mark. Of the others, Kelucia comes here on the back of a good Newmarket win and is respected, Calcutta is capable of running well from his current rating and might sneak a place, Audience is now five pounds below a winning rating from last August, but Namroud has more to do than when scoring at Ayr last time. All of which returns us to the selection, which is Ace Of Hearts.
Ace of Hearts 12-1 (9-5) Close up, effort 2f out, ridden to chase winner entering final furlong, one pace, 2nd of 17, 1 1/2l behind Hinterland (9-3) at Sandown 1m hcap (2) gf.
Beauchamp Pilot 40-1 (9-6) Always behind, last of 17, 20l behind Hinterland (9-3) at Sandown 1m hcap (2) gf.
Seulement (USA) 14-1 (9-1) Held up mid-division, ridden over 2f out, soon beaten, 10th of 17, 6l behind Hinterland (9-3) at Sandown 1m hcap (2) gf.
Spirit of France (IRE) (8-10) Prominent, weakened quickly 2f out, 5th of 11, 7l behind Winisk River (9-6) at Nad Al Sheba 7f hcp gd in Feb.
Capable Guest (IRE) 10-1 (8-11) Held up in mid-division, not clear run on rails 2f out, headway over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, 4th of 17, 2 1/2l behind Hinterland (9-3) at Sandown 1m hcap (2) gf.
Salinja (USA) 20-1 (9-11) In touch, ridden over 2f out, soon beaten, 12th of 16, 7l behind Sew'n'so Character (8-12) at Salisbury 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gd in Jun.
Kelucia (IRE) 4-1 (10-0) Held up, headway over 1f out, soon led, ridden out, won at Newmarket 1m fll hcp (3) frm beating Bosset (9-5) by 1l, 8 ran.
Calcutta 8-1 (9-8) Held up, ridden 4f out, headway over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 6th of 10, 7l behind Banknote (9-5) at Haydock 1m hcp 0-95 (3) gf.
Audience 13-2 (9-3) Steadied start, behind, switched left 3f out, soon ridden and headway, every chance just inside final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 16, 1l behind Sew'n'so Character (8-12) at Salisbury 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gd in Jun.
Namroud (USA) 9-1 (9-5) Held up in touch, ridden to challenge over 1f out, led inside final furlong, held on well, won at Ayr 1m hcap (4) gd in Jun beating Stellite (8-5) by a nk, 8 ran.
Diktatorial 12-1 (10-0) Held up well in rear, moderate headway final furlong, never in contention, 6th of 9, 6l behind Magic Sting (9-5) at Epsom 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gd.
Joseph Henry 7-1 (10-0) Track leader, ridden to challenge over 2f out, every chance over 1f out, no extra under impression, weakened inside final furlong, 5th of 7, 2 1/2l behind Paraguay (8-10) at Epsom 1m 1f hcp 0-85 (4) gd.
Red Spell (IRE) 11-2 (9-10) Chased leaders, effort over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 8th of 16, 4 1/2l behind Sew'n'so Character (8-12) at Salisbury 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gd in Jun.
