led, headed over 2f out, soon ridden, weakened inside final furlong
tracked leader, challenged on inside 3f out, soon ridden, weakened inside final furlong
behind, ridden halfway, headway under pressure over 2f out, kept on same pace, no impression on leading pair
in touch, headway to challenge 2f out, ridden and every chance over 1f out, no impression and eased inside final furlong
tracked leaders, headway to lead over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, drew clear inside final furlong
chased leaders, lost place over 3f out, soon ridden and beaten
Provided that the newcomer Lucky Lark is nothing out of the ordinary, this should go to Almost Spinning, who is preferred to Taminos Love and Meantime. The selection has shown a decent level of form in three starts over shorter but is bred to do better over today's trip of a mile, and improvement can realistically be expected for the longer distance. Stablemate Bibury Lodge makes limited appeal on pedigree, while Michael Bell's Cover Drive was well held over this trip at Yarmouth last time and needs to improve. Mark Johnston has introduced a couple of two-year-olds to score first time out recently so it would be no surprise to see the Key Of Luck colt Lucky Lark run well on his debut although a bigger danger may come from Sir Micahel Stoute's Taminos Love, who ran promisingly on his debut in a Newmarket maiden that is beginning to work out. John Gosden's Meantime could well improve again after just two starts and is another to consider but Almost Spinning has not done a great deal wrong so far and Mick Channon's filly is taken to open her account.
Azime (IRE) 8-1 (9-0) Slowly into stride, raced stands' side, held up, ridden 3f out, soon weakened, last of 6, 18l behind Priors Hill (9-0) at Newmarket 1m 2yo mdn (5) sft in Aug.
Bibury Lodge Indian Lodge colt out of 7f winner Pearl Bright.
Cover Drive (USA) 7-1 (9-0) Tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, no extra, 5th of 8, 4 1/2l behind Dubai Typhoon (9-0) at Yarmouth 1m 2yo mdn (5) gd in Aug.
Meantime (USA) 14-1 (9-0) Went right start, raced stands' side, soon chased leader, ridden over 2f out, weakened 1f out, 3rd of 6, 5l behind Priors Hill (9-0) at Newmarket 1m 2yo mdn (5) sft in Aug.
Taminos Love 4-1 (9-0) Slowly into stride, chased leaders, ridden 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 4th of 13, 7l behind Sciatin (9-0) at Newmarket 7f 2yo mdn aut (5) sft in Aug.
Almost Spinning (IRE) 4-1 (8-9) Held up in touch, ridden over 2f out, chased winner 1f out, driven and stayed on inside final furlong, 2nd of 11, 1/2l behind Manston (9-0) at Leicester 7f 2yo mdn (4) gs in Aug.
Bint Al Hammour (IRE) 50-1 (8-11) Tracked leaders 4f, soon weakened, 10th of 14, 6l behind Cantabria (8-11) at Leicester 6f 2yo mdn fll (4) gs in Aug.
Lucky Lark Key Of Luck colt, brother to 7f winner Lucky Pipit, half-brother to winners on the flat and over hurdles.
