led, ridden and headed inside final 3f, soon outpaced by winner, weakened and lost 2nd 2f out
steadied start, pulled hard and held up behind leaders, shaken up to chase winner and carry head high 2f out, no impression final furlong
tracked leader, pushed into lead inside final 3f, pushed out and run on strongly final furlong
Just the four runners but an interesting race for all that, with our vote going to Plea Bargain ahead of Barcadero. The selection is trained by John Gosden, who has booked Frankie Dettori to take the ride. Having cost 450,000 guineas, his breeding is good, and there was a lot to like about the way he won his maiden at Yarmouth on his final start last season. With his stable among the winners, he can start his season off in winning style. On official ratings, the Ian Semple-trained Kames Park, who cost only 3,500 guineas, is just a pound behind the selection and he has won his maiden, but we think a bigger danger might come from Mark Johnston's Barcadero, who returned this season with a win. Much as he looks set to improve on that, he will need to, which leads us to giving Plea Bargain the edge. Much as Aguille is almost certainly better than he has so far shown, it would be a little surprising if he scored today which, once again, spins us back to Plea Bargain, who gets the verdict here.
Barcardero (USA) 7-2 With leader, ridden to lead over 2f out, kept on well to go clear inside final furlong, won at Musselburgh 1m 1f mdn stk gf beating Bronwen by 3 1/2l, 9 ran.
Kames Park (IRE) 16-1 Tracked leader, ridden over 3f out, headway to challenge over 1f out, kept on to lead final furlong, won at Ayr 7f 2yo mdn (D2) gs in Oct beating Alrafidain by 1l, 9 ran.
Plea Bargain 2-1fav With leader, led over 2f out, ridden and ran on final furlong, won at Yarmouth 7f 2yo mdn (D3) sft in Oct beating Polish Eagle by 5l, 14 ran.
Aiguille (USA) 5-1 Slowly into stride, soon prominent, driven to challenge over 2f out, weakened well over 1f out, 11th of 13, 13l behind Paper Talk at Newmarket 7f 3yo mdn gf.
