held up in rear, smooth headway on outside over 2f out, ridden chasing leading pair inside final 2f, driven entering final furlong, went 2nd close home, one pace and no impression on winner
took keen hold tracking leader, pushed along over 3f out, never travelling well after, ridden and lost 2nd 2f out, soon weakened, eased when beaten inside final furlong
tracked leading pair, smooth headway on outside over 2f out, went 2nd 2f out, led inside final 2f, headed entering final furlong, held when stumbled inside final furlong, lost 2nd close home
tracked leaders on inside, good headway on inside well over 1f out, ridden to lead entering final furlong, kept on well
led and set good pace, pushed along 4f out, ridden and pressed 2f out, soon headed, chased leaders, edged right and weakened over 1f out
Barwick proved that he was more than capable of handling a step up in trip when scoring at Newbury but a 5lb rise might just be enough to stop him following up so we will side with XINBAMA. Barry Hills held a number of entries at the six-day stage and the four-year-old appears to hold very plausible claims of winning this having scored twice around Epsom when the going was particularly quick. Australia Day has been a grand servant to connections with victories under both codes, while Benbecula is another better known under the winter code though he is a previous scorer on the Flat having scored off today's mark when trained by Johnny Murtagh. Icebuster should be suited by the prevailing going but he has looked to be in the grip of the handicapper for some time.
Icebuster 20-1 (9-2) Dwelt always towards rear, weakened 2f out, 8th of 9, 35l behind Groundbreaking (9-7) at Newmarket 1m 2f hcp 0-90 (3) gf in May.
Australia Day (IRE) 16-1 (9-6) Lost battle for lead, pressed leader and clear of rest, lost 2nd 3f out, weakened over 2f out, last of 9, 15l behind Christopher Wren (9-7) at Windsor 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Apr.
Barwick 3-1 (9-2) Slowly away soon in touch, went 3rd 7f out, led over 2f out, soon joined, ridden and ran on, just held on, won at Newbury 1m 4f app hcp (5) gd in May beating Mystery Drama (9-6) by shd, 10 ran.
Xinbama (IRE) 5-1 (9-3) Mid-division, headway from 2f out, went 2nd entering final furlong, stayed on, no impression on winner, 2nd of 8, 2 3/4l behind Qanan (9-0) at Kempton 1m 2f hcp 0-80 (4) std.
Benbecula 50-1 (8-7) Slowly into stride, soon led, headed over 6f out, lost place over 3f out, 7th of 8, 19l behind Grendisar (8-13) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-95 (3) pol in Feb.