held up towards rear, not clear run over 2f out, headway over 1f out, never on terms
soon chasing leader, ridden and lost 2nd 3f out, weakened over 1f out
mid-division, headway over 3f out, hung left inside final furlong, stayed on same pace
tracked leaders, pushed along and lost place over 2f out, soon weakened
led, edged right and headed well over 1f out, beaten when not much room inside final furlong
mid-division, headway over 2f out, challenging on inside when bumped just inside final furlong, led and edged right well inside final furlong, ran on
held up in rear, ridden over 3f out, soon behind
slowly into stride, held up towards rear, headway well over 1f out, stayed on same pace inside final furlong
always prominent, went 2nd 3f out, led well over 1f out, soon hard ridden, edged left into winner just inside final furlong, headed well inside final furlong, kept on
Paul Hanagan is an eyecatching booking on the David Evans-trained CORDELL, who gets the nod here at the main expense of Libertino and Tous Les Deux. The selection is officially rated 85, which is at least 15lbs clear of his opponents and he can take advantage of being very favourably in at the weights with all of them. The trainer applies blinkers today for the first time and drops him back to 7f, which will hopefully be ideal after a nice pipe-opener. Next best looks to be Libertino, who is only 5lbs worse off with our selection than if this were a handicap. Brian Meehan has also opted for the headgear with this son of Bertolini, who ran well enough in a Lingfield handicap over this trip last month and is not without ability. From a nice draw he can go close. Tous Les Deux acts well here, having scored twice over 9f, and Gary Moore's seven-year-old comes here in reasonable form. Although he has gone close over this trip, he is better over a mile and we will oppose him. Course and distance winner Tri Chara looks best of the rest but our vote is with Cordell.
Mountain Pass (USA) 14-1 (8-11) Towards rear, headway on outside well over 1f out, kept on same pace inside final furlong, 5th of 13, 4l behind Quiet Mountain (8-12) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (0-55) (6) pol.
Tri Chara (IRE) 11-4fav (8-13) Towards rear, headway over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 3rd of 12, 2 1/2l behind Ride A White Swan (8-10) at Wolverhampton 6f hcp (0-55) (6) pol.
Athaakeel (IRE) 33-1 (8-7) Held up towards rear, ridden and headway over 2f out, one pace, 4th of 10, 4 1/2l behind Bernix (8-12) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f sell stks (6) pol.
Bellomi (IRE) 8-1 (9-7) Tracked leaders, weakened quickly 2f out, 9th of 12, 18l behind Sign of The Cross (9-12) at Leicester 1m sell stks (6) gd in May.
Cordell (IRE) 16-1 (8-12) Led, headed over 2f out, gradually weakened, 9th of 10, 37l behind Dajen (8-10) at Yarmouth 1m hcp 0-75 (5) sft.
Tous Les Deux 2-1fav (9-1) Held up in mid-division, headway to chase leaders over 2f out, chased winner over 1f out, kept on, 2nd of 9, 1 3/4l behind Alqaahir (8-9) at Kempton 1m hacp 0-70 (5) pol.
Unbelievable Jeff 14-1 (9-3) In touch, ridden halfway, soon weakened, 9th of 12, 15l behind Chjimes (9-8) at Lingfield 6f sell stks (6) pol.
Polemica (IRE) 22-1 (9-3) Tracked leader until inside final furlong, ridden and weakened, 13th of 14, 6l behind Lopinot (9-4) at Lingfield 7f hcp 0-60 (6) pol.
Libertino (IRE) 7-2 (9-1) Chased leaders, ridden to challenge over 2f out, every chance entering final furlong, weakened final 100 yards, 5th of 8, 7l behind Lockantanks (8-11) at Lingfield 7f 3yo clm stks (6) pol in Mar.