held up, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, held towards finish
towards rear, ridden over 1f out, soon weakened
held up in rear, headway on inner over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden over 1f out, led inside final furlong, all out
chased leaders, one pace final furlong
prominent, one pace from over 1f out
led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on
in touch, weakened over 1f out
chased leaders, ridden and every chance approaching final furlong, weakened inside final furlong
In the day's feature race, Baltic King gets the vote over Green Manalishi and Drayton. Baltic King fares well in this race on official marks, being rated 107 (to Beckermet's 106 and Green Manalishi's 105, the trio being the highest-rated British runners in the race), and comes here having competed well at Group level, as evidenced by his Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes seventh and Group 3 Hackwood Stakes fifth last time. From a good draw, he looks a leading player here today. Beckermet invariably goes well here, as evidenced by his very good second in this race last year, although he has a wide draw to contend with. Green Manalishi is better drawn in stall four and has shown that he can compete outside of handicap company so could go well. The South African raider, Drayton, adds plenty of spice to the race but the Royal Ascot Golden Jubilee Stakes fifth has not fared well with the draw. All of which returns us to the selection, which is Baltic King.
Baltic King 6-1 (9-3) Held up in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong, 5th of 11, 4 1/2l behind Balthazaar's Gift (9-3) at Ascot 6f Grp 3 (1) gs in Jul.
Beckermet (IRE) 16-1 (9-1) Chased far side leaders, ridden 2f out, soon weakened, 19th of 26, 15l behind Dark Missile (8-6) at Ascot 6f hcp 0-110 (2) gd in Jun.
Dhaular Dhar (IRE) 14-1 (8-11) Never better than mid-division, 20th of 27, 9l behind Third Set (8-2) at Ascot 7f hcap (2) gs in Jul.
Green Manalishi 25-1 (9-10) Mid-division on stand's side, ridden over 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong, 19th of 24, 8l behind Stoneacre Lad (8-7) at Ascot 5f hcp 0-110 (2) gs in Jul.
Judd Street 11-1 (10-0) In touch, ridden over 2f out, stayed on well towards finish, 3rd of 16, 1 1/2l behind Moorhouse Lad (10-0) at Newmarket 5f hcap (3) gf in Jul.
Drayton (IRE) 5-1 (8-12) Led after 1f to over 1f out, weakened quickly final furlong, 9th of 11, 7l behind Balthazaar's Gift (9-3) at Ascot 6f Grp 3 (1) gs in Jul.
Invincible Force (IRE) 33-1 (9-4) Led, driven and headed over 1f out, staying on same pace until weakened inside final furlong, 6th of 12, 9l behind Zomerlust (9-5) at York 6f hcp 0-105 (2) hvy in Jul.
Final Dynasty 10-1 (9-4) Chased leaders, driven over 1f out, ran on to lead inside final furlong, kept on, won at Pontefract 5f hcp 0-90 (3) gs in Jul beating Namir (8-7) by 3/4l, 12 ran.