soon tracking leaders, raced keenly, outpaced over 3f out, headway over 2f out, soon ridden to challenge, led inside final furlong, stayed on strongly
slowly into stride, held up in touch, outpaced over 3f out, headway over 1f out, ran on final furlong, not reached winner
always prominent, led over 6f out, pushed along 4f out, strongly challenged from well over 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
led until over 6f out, every chance from well over 2f out, soon hard ridden, stayed on same pace final furlong
held up in touch, effort over 3f out, soon under pressure, weakened over 1f out
There's potentially a fair bit of pace in this line-up but we're hopeful that AMAZING BLUE SKY could take them along and prove tough to pass; chief amongst the dangers may be Andhaar. Ruth Carr has enjoyed a season to remember and this gelding may be able to provide his trainer with a fourth win of his season. He's 16lbs higher than for the first of them and 5lbs higher than at Sandown but that form looks solid and he battles well. The form of Royal Defence's Thirsk win isn't anything out of the ordinary so we're content to take him on from a 3lb higher mark despite the fact that he's unexposed. This could be too competitive for Red China Blues but Russian George has been progressing along the right lines and could challenge. Veroon enters calculations following a hard fought win at Beverley but the main threat may be posed by Andhaar who is better than he showed at Epsom but he could struggle to get past Amazing Blue Sky.
Royal Defence (IRE) 9-1 (9-0) Tracked leaders, headway on outside from over 3f out, led over 1f out, ridden and ran on, won at Thirsk 1m mdn stks (4) gd in Jul beating Truly Asia (9-3) by 2 1/4l, 15 ran.
Russian George (IRE) 8-1 (9-7) Close up, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 4th of 6, 3l behind Desire To Excel (9-3) at Beverley 1m 3yo hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jul.
Andhaar 12-1 (9-9) Keen, tracked leaders, ridden to lead 2f out, soon headed, weakened final furlong, 7th of 8, 8l behind Dome Rocket (9-5) at Epsom Downs 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-80 (4) gd in Jul.
Veroon (IRE) 6-1 (9-7) Soon with leader, led over 6f out to over 4f out, challenged 2f out, ridden to lead 1f out, held on final furlong, won at Beverley 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-70 (5) gd beating What A Day (8-8) by 3/4l, 9 ran.
Red China Blues (USA) 10-1 (8-9) Held up mid-division, headway 2f out, soon chasing leaders, kept on final furlong, no chance with winner, 2nd of 10, 2 1/2l behind Moody Tunes (9-4) at Carlisle 1m clm stks (6) gd in Jul.
Amazing Blue Sky 9-1 (8-6) Soon led, made rest, hard ridden under pressure inside last, just held on, won at Sandown 1m 2f 3yo hcp 0-90 (3) gs beating Sequillo (9-0) by shd, 7 ran.
