held up mid-division, ridden and headway over 2f out, soon one pace
slowly into stride, headway 5f out, ridden over 3f out, weakened final furlong
led, headed 3f out, soon ridden, stayed on same pace
held up, ran on final furlong, never nearer
held up, never troubled leaders
close up, ridden over 2f out, outpaced over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong
prominent, led 3f out, clear 1f out, comfortable
chased leaders until halfway
chased leaders, ridden and weakened over 1f out
chased leaders, weakened halfway
in touch, ridden 2f out, kept on to take 2nd inside final furlong
Much as you can probably narrow the field down to six or so to get the selection, it gets trickier from that point, but unless the market says something markedly different, we side with Aricia ahead of Eijaaz, Polar Force, Moon Legend and Zameyla. The selection is a well-related daughter of Nashwan, and she showed plenty of promise on her debut over course and distance, being beaten only around two lengths. Kieren Fallon has been booked to ride today and she could well prove the one to beat. Eijaaz is nicely bred, being a brother to the mile winner Tahirah from the family of Singspiel and Rahy, so he should be noted in the betting, along with the James Fanshawe-trained Polar Force, who is related to Heretic and Warningford, Moon Legend, who should improve as a three-year-old after showing some promise at two, and Michael Jarvis's Zameyla, who will surely improve for her Leicester debut run. James Fanshawe also runs the likeably bred Private Jessica, who is improving for each run and cannot be discounted. Of the others, Great Exhibition, who cost his connections $1.8 million, has been very disappointing since a promising debut effort. Overall, then, the vote goes to Aricia.