steadied at start and held up stands' side, soon pushed along, ridden over 1f out, stayed on final furlong
held up stands' side, ridden over 1f out, ran on final furlong to lead close home
towards rear, never dangerous, stands' side
chased leaders to halfway, stands' side
towards rear, never a factor, stands' side group
never better than mid-division, stands' side group
in touch stands' side, led that group over 1f out, one pace final furlong
chased leaders to halfway
towards rear, never near to challenge
led far side group, headed over 1f out, stayed on final furlong, no extra close home
chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
tracked leader far side group, effort over 1f out, no impression
held up stands' side, pushed along halfway, one pace final furlong
switched right and chased along mid-division stands' side group, effort over 1f out, no extra final furlong
chased leaders stands' side, pushed along halfway, weakened final furlong
tracked leader far side group, pushed along to lead overall over 1f out, ridden and kept on final furlong, headed close home, no extra
led stands' side group, headed over 1f out, soon beaten
never better than mid-division, stands' side group
held up behind leaders, ridden and every chance entering final furlong, stayed on same pace
Everything looks to have come up trumps for Halmahera as he bids to win this for the third year in succession and he is selected in preference to Forever Phoenix and Mutawaqed, who are just two of the others that are capable of causing a few problems for the Kevin Ryan-trained gelding. There are a host of others that have to be given a second look in the betting and the likes of Texas Gold and Funfair Wane would have been given a much more solid build up where it not for their unfavourable stalls positions over on the far side. The former especially has to be given plenty of respect as he looks to be peaking at just the right time to do himself justice today. Unfortunately, he has the absolute worst of the draw to contend with and, as a horse that has suffered from this scenario on numerous occasions this season, he needs more than his share of luck to get a clear near the finish. Others may have flown by then and he is very reluctantly passed over today. Of those on the near side, Merlin's Dancer is another to seriously consider as he will be blazing a trail if he runs his usual race. He is very closely matched with Forever Phoenix judged on their encounter at Ascot, where he ran a blinder from the wrong side, while Connect also has claims on the effort he put in during that race and he is a lively outsider for the frame at the prices. Forever Phoenix will not get away with starting slowly today and looks opposable under a 7lb penalty. Whereas Atlantic Viking has 10lb more to carry than his official rating and, as he failed to beat a single horse home in this race last year, he is hard to enthuse about this time around. Which brings us back to Halmahera, who is an absolute credit to all concerned with his preparations. The nine-year-old has enjoyed a similar preparation to this year's renewal and, if he can better his gallant effort in the Stewards Cup from his penultimate start, Halmahera will be very hard to beat over this intermediate trip that does not suit too many of his rivals.
