held up, headway 2f out, ridden to lead briefly just over 1f out, edged right and not quicken inside final furlong
held up, ridden and headway to lead 1f out, ran on
mid-division, pushed along over 7f out, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, kept on final furlong
prominent, not clear run over 1f out, until ridden inside final furlong, no impresson
slowly into stride, behind, headway over 4f out, soon ridden, one pace final furlong
in touch, ridden 3f out, weakened 2f out
led, ridden over 2f out, headed over 1f out, weakened final furlong
Velvet Heights gets the vote here with Merrymaker and Boxhall rating the main dangers. The selection was a good second behind Prins Willen last time out, that form looks rock solid in the context of this race and under similar conditions here off the same mark he will be hard to beat. Merrymaker rates the main danger on his best form but he has ran as if the handicaper has caught upwith him of lsate and he looks opposable on that basis. Boxhall is another that could go well on his lates second behind Alambic but he again looks vulnerable off this mark. Of the remainder Establishment is game and consistent and is sure to run his race but he is hard to win with and with this in min dfor the winner we return to Velvet Heights.
Velvet Heights (IRE) 5-1 (8-11) Settled in rear, headway on inner 2f out, driven and every chance well inside final furlong, not pace of winner near finish, 2nd of 12, hd behind Prins Willem (9-4) at Kempton 2m hcp 0-90 (3) pol in Jul.
Establishment 7-1 (9-7) Towards rear, headway over 2f out, chased leaders over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, not quite reach leaders, 3rd of 12, 1l behind High Point (9-0) at Kempton 2m hcp 0-75 (5) pol.
Behlaya (IRE) 5-4fav (9-7) Towards rear, headway over 3f out, staying on towards finish but never reached challenging position, 3rd of 9, 12l behind Burnt Oak (9-12) at Catterick 1m 4f mdn stk (5) sft.
Boxhall (IRE) 6-1 (9-12) Led after 2f, ridden and headed over 2f out, rallied entering final furlong, held near finish, 2nd of 7, 1/2l behind Alambic (8-6) at Yarmouth 1m 6f hcp 0-75 (5) gf.
Merrymaker 9-1 (9-2) In rear, soon pushed along, some headway over 1f out, never dangerous, 6th of 10, 3 1/2l behind Mr Aitch (9-3) at Chester 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) gf.
Fantastic Arts (FR) (9-2) won at Longchamp 1m 7f clm gf in Oct '03 beating Eightsome Reel (8-13) by 5l, 16 ran.
Twill (IRE) 7-1 (8-11) Tracked leaders, ridden and edged left over 3f out, not much room over 2f out, soon weakened, last of 7, 12l behind Zurbaran (8-7) at Nottingham 1m 6f 3yo hcp (3) gd.
Riff Raff 3-1 (8-9) Made all, hard pressed from 2f out, driven and in command inside final furlong, won at Lingfield 1m 6f mdn stk (5) gf beating Land of Light (9-0) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.
