led, ridden and headed 3f out, weakened 2f out
in touch, headway to chase winner over 2f out until 2f out, weakened soon after
tracked leader, led 3f out, edged left from 2f out, clear over 1f out, driven out
chased leaders, hard ridden over 2f out, weakened soon after
started slowly, niggled along early in rear, headway to chase winner 2f out, no impression over 1f out
chased leaders, pushed along over 3f out, went modest 3rd inside final 2f
chased leaders, ridden 3f out, weakened over 2f out, tailed off
With 5lbs separating the field on official BHA ratings this is tough to solve but our vote goes to MUFTI; Peaceful Rule, Egmarey and Khajaaly can provide the challenge. Jeremy Noseda hasn't had a winner here in five years but the fact that he's only sent eight horses shows forays to the track are rare and Mufti can make the journey worthwhile. Whether he's up to his rating of 70 is open to debate but what we do know is that the form of his recent maiden effort has been franked more than once by the winner and he's bred to relish these conditions. With Paul Hanagan taking the ride, he looks the one to beat ahead of Peaceful Rule. The sole four-year-old in the race and having had 13 starts without success, David Nicholls' charge is clearly no world-beater, but he has plenty of solid placed form and a first-time visor could help him to focus late on. Egmarey holds Romancea on their Salisbury meeting and is expected to confirm that form. She's been disappointing since that debut effort especially as 1m2f should really have suited her but she's in good hands and a return to that debut performance would see her involved. Khajaaly showed much more at Lingfield when second and may build on that under a talented apprentice, Roose Blox should've done better on ground with cut last time as a Captain Rio gelding while Red Skies appears to need improvement, so we'll return to Mufti.
Peaceful Rule (USA) 12-1 (9-4) Dwelt, soon led, set steady pace, ridden and headed over 2f out, weakened final furlong, 3rd of 4, 10l behind North Cape (9-4) at Epsom Downs 1m 2f app hcp (5) gf in Jul.
Khajaaly (IRE) 13-2 (9-5) Reared start, mid-division, outpaced over 4f out, headway from 2f out, chased winner inside final furlong, nearest finish, 2nd of 11, 1/2l behind Macanta (9-11) at Leicester 1m hcp 0-65 (6) gf in Jul.
Mufti (IRE) 12-1 (8-13) Mid-division, pushed along over 2f out, weakening when hampered well over 1f out, 6th of 14, 8l behind Kakatosi (8-13) at Lingfield 7f mdn auc stks (6) pol in Jun.
Roose Blox (IRE) 12-1 (9-3) Slowly into stride, held up towards rear, headway to go in touch over 4f out, riden over 2f out, soon weakened, 5th of 9, 8l behind One Scoop Or Two (8-10) at Haydock 1m hcp 0-75 (5) gd in Jul.
Egmarey (IRE) 14-1 (8-8) Slowly into stride, behind, pushed along over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 9th of 16, 29l behind Mortbet (8-13) at Leicester 1m 2f 3yo & 4yo mdn (5) gd in Jul.
Red Skies (IRE) 12-1 (8-8) Slowly into stride, soon with leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 9th of 11, 19l behind Strike A Deal (8-8) at Redcar 1m mdn auc stks (6) gd in Jun.
Romancea (USA) 25-1 (8-11) Held up in last trio, no real progress over 2f out, 8th of 11, 9l behind Sarasota Sunshine (9-13) at Newbury 7f flls hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jul.
