quickly away, led, headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong, just held on for 2nd
tracked leaders in 3rd, ridden 2f out, stayed on inside final furlong to press for 2nd near finish, but no chance with very easy winner
tracked leader, led going easily over 1f out, shaken up and came clear final furlong, very easily
slowly away, soon recovered to dispute 3rd place, ridden halfway, outpaced over 1f out, kept on again towards finish
Excellent Art is the choice in this very competitive renewal of the National Stakes, with Cav Okay and Urban Warrior the likely dangers. Neville Callaghan's juveniles tend to improve with racing and so it was a bit unusual for him to win with this debutante at Newmarket last month. However he had obviously shown plenty at home as he was backed down to 9/4 and comfortably got the better of what looked a decent field. With improvement almost guaranteed he should be capable of landing this decent prize before moving on to better things. Cav Okay showed blistering pace to win by five lengths on his Newbury debut. He may not have been suited by Chester last time and back over a more conventional track he should go well. Urban Warrior is not a bad sort and should run his race again however he is vulnerable to a less exposed type. The only other runner is the newcomer Dress To Impress and it would be a big surprise if this one was good enough and so we return to Excellent Art as our idea of the winner.
Cav Okay (IRE) 4-11fav (9-1) With leader, ridden to lead 1f out, headed and not quicken inside final furlong, 2nd of 7, 1 1/2l behind Mubaashir (9-1) at Chester 5f 2yo stk (2) gf.
Dress To Impress (IRE) Fasliyev colt out of 5f winner Dress Code.
Excellent Art 9-4 (9-0) Tracked leaders, led inside final furlong, driven clear, won at Newmarket 5f 2yo mdn (4) gf in Apr beating Dimboola (9-0) by 1 1/2l, 6 ran.
Urban Warrior 9-1 (8-11) Steadied at start and held up, driven along halfway, never reached challenging position, last of 4, 17l behind Hellvelyn (8-11) at Pontefract 6f 2yo stk (2) gs.
