slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway on wide outside, over 1f out, stayed on, never nearer
held up, never dangerous
tracked leaders, effort going easily 2f out, soon ridden, hung right and not run on final furlong
slowly into stride, switched right after start, never on terms
pressed leader, ridden and every chance 2f out, weakened approaching final furlong
held up, ridden and headway on rails 3f out, led well over 1f out, soon clear, easily
behind, stayed on over 1f out, nearest finish
held up, never able to challenge
led, headed well over 1f out, weakened approaching final furlong
held up, ridden and some headway 3f out, weakened 2f out
chased leaders, ridden and weakened 2f out
mid-division, ridden and kept on same pace final 2f
held up, headway on outside over 2f out, ran on
outpaced and always behind
Taranaki is taken to gain a richly deserved victory at the main expense of Sattam while Montecassino Abbey and Tribal Prince are both worthy of consideration. The selection comes here in tremendous form having stayed on strongly to finish a highly commendable third in the ultra competitive Victoria Cup at Ascot before occupying the same position in a decent event at Lingfield last weekend. This represents a significant ease in grade and Peter Cundell's charge should be able to take advantage from a favourable high draw. Sattam has clearly been difficult to train and the four-year-old was having only his third public outing when a respectable second in an Epsom maiden late last month. The form is nothing out of the ordinary however and Marcus Tregoning's charge lacks vital experience against seasoned handicappers in a race of this nature. Montecassino Abbey wasn't beaten far in a competitive Ascot handicap last time and shouldn't be far away once again despite top weight while stable mate Tribal Prince was a little below his best last time but had put up a string of placed efforts previously and shouldn't be underestimated.
