never travelling and always trailing in rear, tailed off
held up in 6th, steady headway on outside from 3f out, tracked leader over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, led just inside final furlong, in command when hung right final 100 yards and stayed on strongly
tracked leaders in 4th, effort to track leading pair over 2f out, soon ridden and weakened over 1f out
led and set good pace, pushed along and headed over 2f out, soon ridden and weakened
raced in 3rd, pushed along 5f out, weakened entering straight, tailed off
held up in 5th, headway on outside over 3f out, went 3rd going well 3f out, led and hung right over 2f out, headed just inside final furlong, looked held when hampered final 100 yards and soon eased
PATKAI can pounce on this prize with Geordieland and Tastahil as the alternatives. The Ascot winner has plenty of likely targets over the summer and he could be capable of further progression still. Geordieland makes a belated seasonal reappearance. As ever, he is capable though invariably finds a way to lose when push comes to shove. Tastahil won a listed contest at Newbury on his most recent start. It will be interesting to see if he is tried under a front run this evening. Former Chester Cup winner Bulwark has had a recent run under National Hunt rules. Fiulin did not act on the softer surface at York in the Yorkshire Cup and is clearly better than that effort suggests. Tungsten Strike is in a visor for the first time. Viper steps up in grade. Patkai is our pick.
Bulwark (IRE) 33-1 (9-9) Hampered on rails after 1f, always towards rear, 29th of 32, well behind Caracciola (9-6) at Newmarket 2m 2f hcap (2) gd in Oct.
Geordieland (FR) 7-1 (9-7) Towards rear, steady progress, going well over 2f out, ridden and not quicken over 1f out, kept on one pace, 5th of 10, 5l behind Sixties Icon (9-5) at Newbury 1m 5f Grp 3 (1) gs in Aug.
Tastahil (IRE) 9-2 (8-12) Led, pressed from 2f out, headed narrowly inside final furlong, driven to regain lead final 50 yards, won at Newbury 1m 5f Listed stks (1) sft beating All The Aces (8-12) by 1/2l, 8 ran.
Tungsten Strike (USA) 4-1 (9-1) Soon led and set sound pace, ridden and headed 3f out, soon edged left, lost 2nd over 2f out and soon weakened, last of 5, 25l behind Patkai (8-11) at Ascot 2m Grp 3 (1) gf in Apr.
Viper 4-1 (9-13) Made all, challenged from over 2f out, soon driven, stayed on gamely, won at Newmarket 2m hcap (3) gs in Oct beating Absolut Power (9-5) by 1 3/4l, 6 ran.
Fiulin 9-2 (8-12) Held up, headway over 4f, driven 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 5th of 8, 18l behind Ask (8-13) at York 1m 6f stks (1) gs.
Patkai (IRE) 2-5fav (8-11) Raced in 3rd, went 2nd over 5f out, closed to lead 3f out, came well clear final 2f, stayed on strongly, ridden out, won at Ascot 2m Grp 3 (1) gf in Apr beating Mischief Making (8-8) by 9l, 5 ran.
