held up mid-division, ridden over 3f out, soon no impression
tracked leaders, led over 3f out, soon edged left, headed inside final furlong, kept on
in touch, driven over 3f out, headway approaching final furlong, ran on to lead closing stages
tracked leaders, effort and every chance over 2f out, soon weakened
always behind
slowly into stride, soon chasing leaders, effort over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up in rear, headway halfway, every chance over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
held up towards rear, headway over 2f out, soon outpaced, ran on inside final furlong, nearest finish
led until over 3f out, soon weakened and eased
Nonrunner
Nonrunner
It's debatable whether any of this year's contenders have the ability to emulate the feats of Youmzain who won this race two years ago, but there are some likeable sorts on display and Gravitation may just be the best of them today. Rather a lot will depend upon the amount of rain to fall on the July course over the next 48 hours but the selection has run well on fast ground and on good to soft and her pedigree offers every encouragement that she'd perfectly at home under testing conditions. She emerged best of the five runners in this line-up that clashed in the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot and, although the conditions could hardly be more different, there's every reason to expect her to come out on top again. Enroller finished closest and should go well again but considerably better can be expected from Unleashed who, in all likelihood, found conditions at Ascot faster than he'd have cared for whilst Donegal was most impressive on his one run on soft ground to date. The highest rated horse in the race by a considerable margin is Bouguereau who ran a blinder in the Derby to finish in midfield. That was a personal best performance and he won't be inconvenienced by any cut in the ground so he holds an obvious chance of gaining a second career success now dropped in grade with Alan Munro commenting after Epsom that he'd be ideally suited by a step up in trip. There are few chinks in his armour but there's just a chance that he may have left his race at Epsom and this is a very different track. Improvement from his opponents is clearly required but the majority of this field can still be termed progressive and the likes of Wood Chorus are bred to come into their own as they step up to middle distances and Michael Bell's filly also makes some appeal as she relishes running on rain softened ground. Bouguereau rates the one to beat but will be priced accordingly and we'd rather chance GRAVITATION to bring him down to earth.
