held up towards rear, some headway over 2f out, soon ridden, no impression
raced keen mid-division, ridden 3f out, some headway 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong
held up mid-division, ridden and headway 2f out, stayed on, not reach winner
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up towards rear, rapid headway on outside 3f out, soon ridden, kept on one pace
raced keen, held up in touch, steadied and lost place over 4f out, switched right over 2f out, plenty to do over 1f out, stayed on, not reach leaders
chased winner to over 1f out, kept on one pace
in touch, ridden over 1f out, no extra
chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
raced keen in touch, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
raced keen, held up, ridden and behind final 2f
A cracking event for the course, with several useful performers on show. Front runner Averted View will ensure there is no hanging around, but she will have her work cut out to confirm the form with Bible Box, who is 8lb better off, for a length and a half beating at Salisbury. Runner-up in a sub-standard Oaks trial at Lingfield, Barzah was though good enough to take a chance in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes. A failure there, she now has plenty to prove. Mubkera has followed a similar path to Barzah, having finished just behind her at Lingfield, before finishing seven lengths in front of her at Ascot. She has since been found out in a handicap at Newmarket, but that race was run in an absolute downpour and while she can be forgiven that effort, she also has plenty to prove. Pie High, who disappointed at York, takes a step up in trip and is open to improvement over it, while Trekking and the visored Celtic Ballet are also worthy of consideration. However the vote goes to Shalamantika, who had taken a while to lose her maiden tag, but proved well suited by the drop down to this trip when bolting up at Epsom. She proved that day that she handles an undulating course and she could well turn out to be a step ahead of the Handicapper.
