held up, ridden over 2f out, kept on same pace
held up, ridden over 2f out, no impression until ran on well inside final furlong
held up, headway 2f out, ridden to chase leader over 1f out, led inside final furlong, ran on
in touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong
tracked leader, ridden and weakened over 1f out
led, five lengths clear halfway, ridden over 1f out, weakened and headed inside final furlong
A small but select field for the feature race on the card and the vote goes to Somnus ahead of stable mate Fayr Jag while Royal Beacon and Revenue will prove no pushovers. Tim Easterby's charge was a smart juvenile last year and, following a poor start to the season, the three-year-old has bounced back to form with back-to-back wins over this trip at Haydock and in a Listed event at Newbury. The son of Pivotal looked desperately unlucky not to complete a hat-trick at the Shergar Cup meeting when travelleing easily on the bridle but failing to find daylight at the finish and had to settle for fourth placing. Granted better fortune, Somnus should be able to reverse form with the runner-up Royal Beacon who has since advertised the form by taking a handicap over the course and distance last weekend. Fayr Jag has put up a string of smart efforts in valuable handicaps this term and put up his best performance when dead-heading for first in the ultra competitive Wokingham at Royal Ascot. The four-year-old wasn't disgraced form a poor draw behind Patavellian in the Stewards Cup and has strong claims on these terms so rates a big danger. Revenue was placed in Pattern events as a juvenile and will be sharper for a recent Doncaster comeback so can't be ruled out but Somnus has the class to defy a 4lb penalty and should take plenty of beating.
