held up in rear, ridden and headway over 2f out, close up over 1f out, edged ahead inside final furlong, headed close home
chased clear leader, travelled strongly to close gap 3f out, ridden to lead narrowly 2f out, headed inside final furlong, ran on strongly to lead close home
raced in 3rd, ridden over 3f out, soon outpaced
led and soon clear, ridden and reduced advantage over 3f out, headed over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
Things didn’t go to plan for STRADIVARIUS when attempting to win the Ascot Gold Cup for a fourth time though he’s also won this contest twice in the past. Normal luck in-running should see the high-class stayer back to his best and he’s taken to reverse latest Ascot running with third-placed Spanish Mission. The latter won the Yorkshire Cup over 1m6f here in May while Trueshan is penalised for last month’s victory in the Goodwood Cup though it was soft ground on that occasion. Stratum has had an outing over hurdles since landing the Queen Alexandra over a marathon trip at Ascot when The Grand Visir finished back in third but both have plenty to find on these terms.
Spanish Mission (USA) 7-1 (9-2) Held up towards rear, raced keenly, started raced keenly on downhill run about 12f out, headway over 2f out, edged right over 1f out, 3rd final furlong, no impression on winner, stayed on, 3rd of 12, 5 1/2l behind Subjectivist (9-1) at Ascot 2m 4f Grp 1 (1) gf in Jun.
Stradivarius (IRE) 5-6fav (9-2) Held up rear of mid-division, not clear run and hampered 3f out, soon switched left, closed and switched right over 2f out, edged right and 3rd over 1f out, 4th and held inside final 150 yards, never any impression on winner, 4th of 12, 7 1/4l behind Subjectivist (9-1) at Ascot 2m 4f Grp 1 (1) gf in Jun.
Stratum 11-2 (11-2) Mid-division, headway after 2 out, ridden and kept on run-in, one paced closing stages, 7th of 19, 9 1/2l behind Jazzaway (10-8) at Galway 2m 7f hcp gd in Jul.
The Grand Visir 13-2cfav (9-9) Tracked leaders, pushed along over 4f out, ridden inside final 3f, weakened over 1f out, 10th of 20, 9 3/4l behind Calling The Wind (8-13) at Goodwood 2m 5f hcp (2) gd in Jul.
Trueshan (FR) 6-5fav (9-9) Held up in touch, keen early, moved to chase leader 6f out, travelled strongly to lead on near rail over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, narrow advantage entering final furlong, drew clear close home, won at Goodwood 2m Grp 1 (1) sft in Jul beating Away He Goes (9-9) by 3 3/4l, 8 ran.
