made all, ran wide after 3f, ridden and challenged well over 1f out, stayed on well final furlong
tracked winner, ridden and headway to challenge well over 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, no extra towards finish
in rear, ridden and lost place over 3f out
chased leading pair, ridden and outpaced 3f out
A poor turnout for this valuable prize and Takhmin, who spreadeagled a decent looking field on his seasonal debut looks set to follow up her at the expense of Melrose Avenue and General Max. Mark Johnston's colt had shown plenty of promise as a juvenile and looked as though he had improved over the winter when easily accounting for Selika. He is expected to progress further and looks the one to beat here. Melrose Avenue is a stable companion of the selection and he should be the one booked for the runners up spot. He took a maiden at Sandown in good style before running well in better company. The other two appear out of their depth but General Max should win that particular battle for third spot. So, in what looks a virtual match, Takhmin is taken to oblige.
Melrose Avenue (USA) 7-4jt-fav Led and hung badly right, ridden and headed over 2f out, soon beaten, last of 4, 4 1/2l behind Thunderwing at Ayr 1m nov stk (D2) gs in Sept.
Takhmin (IRE) 5-2fav Held up, headway over 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, soon clear, won at Pontefract 1m 2f 3yo mdn aut gs in Mar beating Selika by 8l, 7 ran.
General Max (IRE) 33-1 Towards rear, never dangerous, 13th of 17, 11l behind Diamonds And Dust at York 7f 2yo hcp 0-85 (D3) gf in Sept.
Jeffslottery 50-1 Never better than mid-division, weakened and tailed off final 2f, 10th of 12, well behind Alrafidain at Musselburgh 1m 4f mdn stk gs in Mar.