soon led, ridden and headed over 1f out, weakened well inside final furlong and lost 2 places towards finish
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, soon one pace
pulled hard in mid-division, some headway 2f out, soon ridden and weakened quickly over 1f out
slowly into stride, in rear, ridden over 4f out, plenty to do 2f out, stayed on well final furlong, took 3rd post
behind, ridden over 2f out, no impression on leaders
took keen hold behind, headway and plenty to do over 1f out, ran on strongly inside final furlong to take 2nd close home but no chance with winner
tracked leader, ridden to lead over 1f out, clear inside final furlong, pushed out
Opera Writer can land the opener at the expense of Dumaron and Follow The Colours. The selection was seen in good form when winning a one mile claimer at Southwell last time out. This is a better grade of race but the race is moderate and if running up to his best then he has to be difficult to beat. Dumaron will pose as the biggest danger as he caught the eye when last seen out in the spring when finishing third to Summer Charm at Sandown. The ground conditions are a slight worry though as he has performed well on a heavy surface before now so has to be treated with caution. Follow The Colours has been competing in better races than this and had been in form up until recently. This is a drop in grade so any market moves should be noted. But for the winner we return to Opera Writer.
King's Thought 5-1 (9-10) Led for 4f, stayed prominent, led again over 2f out, soon ridden, headed just over 1f out, no extra, 3rd of 8, 5l behind Burgundy (8-9) at Kempton 1m 2f app hcp (4) pol in Jun.
Dumaran (IRE) 16-1 (9-4) Held up, effort against stand's side rail when not much room, switched right over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, 3rd of 13, 2l behind Summer Charm (8-7) at Sandown 1m 2f hcp 0-75 (5) hvy in May.
Best Of The Lot (USA) 14-1 (9-8) Led, ridden and headed well over 1f out, soon weakened, last of 9, 10l behind Active Asset (9-10) at Newcastle 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gf.
Burgundy 12-1 (9-5) Slowly into stride, towards rear, came centre of course over 3f out, stayed on same pace final 2f, never troubled leaders, 6th of 10, 3 1/2l behind Blackmail (8-8) at Epsom 1m 2f app hcp (5) gd.
Bentley Brook (IRE) 50-1 (9-11) Held up last, pushed along 3f out, soon one pace and no danger, 5th of 8, 5l behind Cusoon (9-8) at Windsor 1m 2f hcp 0-80 (4) gf.
Call My Bluff (FR) (8-5) behind Morna (8-13) at Saint-Cloud 1m 4f hcp gs in May, 19 ran.
Follow The Colours (IRE) 5-1 (8-9) Took keen hold, tracked leader, led narrowly over 4f out, soon headed, weakened from 2f out, 8th of 12, 12l behind Ollie George (8-12) at Newbury 1m 3f app hcp (5) gd.
Opera Writer (IRE) 7-2 (9-3) Outpaced, headway on inside from 3f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on, won at Southwell 1m 3yo clm (5) fbs beating Welcome Releaf (8-13) by 3l, 13 ran.
