raced far side, pulled hard, tracked leaders, ridden over 1f out, kept on under pressure inside final furlong
raced far side, held up, ridden halfway, soon weakened
raced far side, slowly into stride, held up, ridden and some headway over 1f out, weakened final furlong
raced far side, chased leaders, outpaced halfway, ridden and headway over 1f out, kept on one pace final furlong
raced far side, slowly into stride, tailed off until kept on inside final furlong, never nearer
raced far side, tracked leaders, ridden halfway, weakened over 1f out
raced far side, led, ridden and headed over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
raced far side, in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened 1f out
An intriguing contest with a nice mix of horses with the benefit of an outing and newcomers from powerful yards. Of the debutantes Moss Vale and Haafhd are of obvious interest from the Barry Hills yard, while John Dunlop saddles Motu, who is a half-brother to sprinters Medina and Contact, and comes from the same family as the high-class Owington. Of those to have run, Taruskin will be a popular choice, as will the unlucky in running Bright Sun, but the one to be with is Gold Mask, who caught the eye behind Bright Sun and Carla Moon when they were all making their debuts here last month. John Gosden's colt was easy to back that day and didn't have a hard time in finishing a never near 7th. While he has to turn around the form with both Bright Sun and Carla Moon, we are in no doubt that he will. The latter, who comes from the family of Ribblesdale winner Thawakib (the dam of Sakhee) can only improve for the experience and while she should have no trouble winning a race, she will have to wait a little longer to do so, while the well drawn Bright Sun can also be expected to be better for the experience and will be difficult to keep out of the frame. Taruskin has done nothing wrong in both his outings to date, but he looks to have more to do in this company. Haafhd, a half-brother to Group 2 winner Munir, will have to be above average to land this, but his trainer has his juveniles in fine form and he cannot be left out of calculations, neither can stablemate Moss Vale, who is a half-brother to 10-furlong handicapper Street Life. However, Gold Mask is taken to show the benefit of the experience gained over course and distance last month.