held up last, headway on outside over 2f out, chased leading pair over 1f out, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong, not quite pace to challenge
chased leading pair until driven along 2f out, soon weakened
made all, pushed along and quickened pace 3f out, driven along from 2f out, stayed on well, readily
held up in 5th, headway on outside 3f out, soon tracking winner, ridden 2f out, driven and tried to challenge gamely inside final furlong, always just held
took keen hold early, soon settled 4th, driven along and outpaced over 2f out, stayed on again inside final furlong
soon tracking winner, pushed along 3f out, soon lost second and weakened inside final 2f
Mystery Star put up a career best performance when narrowly beaten by Munsef in a decent handicap at Chester last time but the Mark Tompkins-trained gelding has a career high mark to defy now having been raised 4lbs since that outing and a better bet may be AKMAL, who gets the vote ahead of Hendersyde. Walter Swinburn's gelding was well held in the Brown Jack at Ascot last time but he has solid claims on earlier form so cannot be discounted. James Fanshawe's Spring Jim has a bit to find with Mystery Star on a line through Munsef and of more interest may be Henry Cecil's Rugell, who has only had three starts since joining the master of Warren Place from Italy and is open to improvement. The vote though goes to John Dunlop's Akmal who kept on well when returned to this trip at York last month, staying on well to beat Alanbrooke by three-quarters of a length, and a reproduction of that form may see him win again off a 5lb higher mark.
Mystery Star (IRE) 11-1 (8-11) Held up in last trio, headway over 2f out, chased winner approaching final furlong, soon challenging and stayed on, always just held, 2nd of 10, 1/2l behind Munsef (9-8) at Chester 1m 5f listed hcp 0-110 (1) gf in Aug.
Hendersyde (USA) 4-1 (9-12) Chased leaders in 4th, pushed along and went 3rd 4f out, no chance with front pair from 2f out, soon weakened, 5th of 6, 17l behind Darley Sun (8-2) at Ascot 2m hcp 0-100 (2) gd in Jul.
Akmal 8-1 (9-3) Mid-division, headway from over 3f out, chased leader over 2f out, ridden to lead and edged right inside final furlong, won at York 1m 6f 3yo hcp 0-105 (2) gf in Aug beating Alanbrooke (9-3) by 3/4l, 13 ran.
Spring Jim 14-1 (8-7) Held up in rear, headway over 3f out, soon hard ridden, never on terms, 6th of 14, 9l behind Yes Mr President (8-9) at Haydock 1m 6f hcp 105 (2) gs.
Valmari (IRE) 28-1 (8-12) Raced keenly, soon steadied towards rear, headway over 5f out, weakened over 3f out, 12th of 15, 23l behind Swingkeel (9-2) at York 2m hcp 0-95 (3) gf in Aug.
Rugell (ARG) 20-1 (9-0) Chased leader, led over 3f out, headed 2f out, edged left inside final furlong, not quicken close home, 3rd of 7, 1/2l behind Merchant Of Dubai (9-11) at Newmarket 1m 7f hcp 0-95 (3) gf in Aug.
