led, ridden over 2f out, headed over 1f out, no extra towards finish
chased leaders, ridden halfway, kept on inside final furlong, to take 2nd towards finish
prominent, ridden halfway, weakened over 1f out
with leaders, ridden over 2f out, one pace inside final furlong
prominent, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f
in touch, ridden over 2f out, kept on final furlong
in touch, ridden halfway, weakened over 2f out
pushed along to chase leaders, ridden over 2f out, led over 1f out, kept on
in touch, pushed along over 4f out, ridden halfway, weakened over 1f out
Abraxas Antelope has done nothing wrong so far, and can land the Gimcrack for his enthusiastic owners, with Council Member, Crimson Sun and Galeota just three dangers. Howard Johnson has not only benefited with his string of jumpers thanks to Graham Wylie's cheque book, as the stable appear to have some decent Flat youngsters coming through, notably Abraxas Antelope who is unbeaten after successive victories at Hamilton and Doncaster. On the latter occasion there were no less than six previous winners in the line-up so the form should be pretty solid, and the fact that the going was on the soft side then gives further cause for encouragement here. Frankie Dettori has opted for Council Member from Godolphin's two runners, and he should run a big race, having been denied a whisker in both the Coventry Stakes and July Stakes on his last two outings. He could well start favourite on the strength of those two sterling efforts, but will ensure that our selection goes off at a decent price. Crimson Sun has not done a lot wrong either, and along with Richard Hannon's Galeota, can help make this an exciting spectacle. The latter was a bit disappointing on his Salisbury debut but improved markedly to open his account from a poor draw at Windsor, and his trainer has plenty of talent in this department. Kieren Fallon has a good strike-rate for Paul Cole so Mill Reef entry Andronikos, who opened his account first time at Hamilton despite running green, can be expected to figure somewhere. Stetchworth Prince and local hopes Royal Island and Big Hassle will not be disgraced in this company, but, while respecting the claims of Council Member, we pin our hopes on Abraxas Antelope who will definitely go on the ground.
