held up in touch, ridden and effort over 1f out, not quite pace to challenge, kept on same pace
tracked leaders on outer, effort over 1f out, not quicken, kept on one pace
prominent on inner, ridden over 2f out, slightly outpaced, driven to lead inside final furlong and drew clear final 100 yards, ridden out
soon led, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened quickly over 1f out
took keen hold, tracked leader, ridden to lead 2f out, no extra when headed inside final furlong, kept on
took keen hold in rear, ridden and no impression 2f out, hung right over 1f out, soon beaten
It will be interesting to see how Godolphin's Windsor Knot performs on his seasonal reappearance but it is hard to get away from Alfie Flits, who has gone from strength to strength in bumpers and is progressing similarly well on the level proper now so he gets the vote with Mulaqat rated the best of the rest. The selection always looked out of the top drawer last season in bumpers and has quickly proven himself to be a very capable performer under flat racing rules this term, most notably when staying on strongly over an inadequate mile behind Godolphin's Librettist at Nottingham. A subsequent success at Pontefract confirmed the belief of that effort and Alan Swinbank's gelding is taken to follow up here. Weightless would have claims on the pick of his form but that is on a softer surface, while Kandidate has yet to prove that he stays this far on turf. Mark Johnston's Crosspeace showed signs of a revival at Royal Ascot last time and has to be considered although a bigger threat is likely to come from Marcus Tregoning's Mulaqat, who looks to be going the right way. Alfie Flats has an obvious chance though and is hard to oppose.
Alfie Flits 5-6fav (8-12) Tracked leaders ridden over 2 furlong out, led over 1f out, soon clear, eased towards finish, won at Pontefract 1m 4f lst stk (1) gf in Jun beating Camrose (8-12) by 2 1/2l, 4 ran.
Crosspeace (IRE) 20-1 (9-3) Held up, steady headway from 2f out, stayed on well final furlong, nearest finish, 3rd of 16, 2l behind I'm So Lucky (8-7) at Ascot 1m 2f lst hcp (1) gf in Jun.
Kandidate 16-1 (9-0) Led narrowly, ridden and headed 3f out, weakened approaching final 2f, 6th of 7, 15l behind Ad Valorem (9-0) at Ascot 1m Grp 1 (1) gf in Jun.
Weightless (8-11) Prominent, one pace final furlong, 4th of 7, 1 1/2l behind Blue Monday (8-11) at Longchamp 1m 2f Grp 3 (A) in Jun.
Windsor Knot (IRE) 8-13fav (8-5) Tracked winner, ridden over 3f out, every chance until weakened final furlong, 3rd of 5, 6l behind Fruhlingssturm (8-11) at Ayr 1m 2f lst stk (1) gd in Sept.
Mulaqat 16-1 (9-2) Bumped after 1f, effort on rails when not clear run after 2 out, switched left and stayed on from over 1f out, kept on final furlong, 4th of 15, 2l behind Snoqualmie Boy (8-11) at Ascot 1m 2f 3yo lst stk (1) gf in Jun.
