slowly into stride and towards rear, headway over 3f out, ridden 2f out, stayed on trowards finish
mid-division, pushed along over 5f out, weakened over 2f out
mid-division, driven over 4f out, never near to challenge
prominent, pushed along over 5f out, soon outpaced
held up, headway over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, led approaching final furlong, kept on
in touch, pushed along over 3f out, ridden 2f out, every chance final furlong, stayed on same pace
slowly into stride and behind, headway over 3f out, ridden and one pace final 2f
prominent, pushed along and lost place over 5f out
mid-division, effort over 4f out, no impression
prominent, pushed along over 4f out, ridden and once pace final 2f
towards rear, never dangerous
towards rear, tailed off 5f out
always rear
prominent, pushed along over 4f out, ridden over 2f out, stayed on same pace
toward rear, tailed off over 4f out
never dangerous
always mid-division
soon led, ridden over 2f out, headed approaching final furlong, kept on same pace
Empangeni was value for more than the winning margin of a neck at Newmarket last month and John Dunlop's gelding is taken to defy the 5lb rise in the weights, with Habitual Dancer and Villago rated the main dangers. The selection had looked a horse to follow when landing a Newbury handicap against older rivals in June but ran unaccountably badly at Nottingham subsequently. Given a break since then, he returned to form at headquarters when scoring despite finding trouble in running and is taken to follow up here. Anniversary Guest is likely to find this tougher than the banded race that he won at Folkestone last time and of more interest may be the Willie Jarvis-trained Fuss, who is less exposed than most of these. Irish raider Torcello has slipped to an attractive mark and has solid claims on the pick of his form, while Whoopsie cannot be discounted having run up to her mark at Chester last week. Restart and Irish Ballad are others worthy of a mention although a bigger threat is likely to come from Habitual Dancer, who looks to be running into form. Top weight Villago is creeping up the weights and is another to consider but Empangeni remains feasibly well treated and he gets the vote.
Villago (GER) 15-2 (8-9) Held up, effort over 3f out, ridden and headway over 1f out, not quicken inside final furlong, 3rd of 9, 1/2l behind Numero Due (8-5) at Thirsk 2m hcp (4) gf in Aug.
Habitual Dancer 10-3fav (9-0) Chased leaders, ridden over 2f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, 3rd of 13, nk behind Solomon's Mine (9-9) at Pontefract 2m 2f hcp (5) gs in Mar.
Torcello (IRE) 7-2 (9-7) Mid-division, 5th 4f out, ridden 3f out, soon no extra and weakened, last of 8, 16l behind Proper Article (8-7) at Downpatrick 1m 4f hcp 0-80 gf in Aug.
Empangeni 10-1 (8-3) Held up, smooth headway over 1f out, hard ridden to lead well inside final furlong, ran on, won at Newmarket 2m hcp (5) gf beating Johnny Rook (9-7) by a nk, 9 ran.
Anniversary Guest (IRE) 20-1 (9-7) Held up and behind, smooth headway from 5f out, challenged on bit 2f out, led 1f out, driven out, won at Folkestone 1m 7f stk (7) gf beating Lysander's Quest (10-2) by 1/2l, 13 ran.
Fuss 7-4fav (8-8) Mid-division, headway when not clear run over 3f out, switched right over 2f out, ridden and kept on final furlong, no impression, 3rd of 15, 8l behind Compton Eclaire (8-12) at Thirsk 2m hcp (6) gf in Aug.
Whoopsie 5-1 (7-12) Led, ridden and headed 1f out, not quicken towards finish, 4th of 12, 1 1/2l behind Golden Boot (9-9) at Chester 2m hcp (5) sft.
Restart (IRE) 4-1 (9-8) Tracked leader, led halfway, headed over 5f out, driven along over 4f out, soon beaten, 4th of 6, 31l behind Considine (9-8) at Doncaster 2m app hcp (5) gd in Jul.
