held up in rear, headway on wide outside over 2f out, went 2nd and edging left over 1f out, pressing winner when hung left inside final furlong, outbattled towards finish
made all, ridden 2f out, pressed inside final furlong, battled on gamely and in command towards finish
took keen hold, held up and soon in touch, headway tracking leaders 6f out, went 2nd over 3f out, ridden and one pace when lost 2nd over 1f out, kept on same pace in 3rd
upset and edgy before start, took keen hold and held up in last trio, pushed along 3f out, weakened soon after, eased when no chance final 2f
tracked leading pair, pushed along over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, weakened well over 1f out
tracked winner until over 3f out, chased leaders, weakened over 1f out
held up in 6th, not clear run 2f out and soon switched left, driven and no progress over 1f out
tracked leading trio, pushed along briefly over 4f out, ridden and one pace in 4th over 1f out
Seamus Durack reaches for the headgear for ARC LIGHTER, who didn't appear to be putting everything in when just touched off here last week. He definitely has the ability to win this and hopefully George Baker can produce him with a winning late run. Croquembouche is ideally suited by this trip and fast ground as he showed when scoring at Sandown and Bath last summer but he's generally needed his comeback runs while Elusive Guest, a winner over a mile here in June, hasn't been seen since a poor run at Pontefract the following month though that didn't look his form. Chain Of Events completed a hat-trick early last summer but ended the campaign in poor form and was a long way behind Unison at Newmarket in October and the latter looks to have a good chance of making the frame as he's only 1lb higher.
Arc Lighter (USA) 2-1fav (9-7) Held up in last pair, smooth headway when not clear run over 2f out until switched left over 1f out, 2nd and every chance inside final furlong, soon hung left, bumped on line, just held, 2nd of 10, hd behind Carthage (8-9) at Windsor 1m 4f hcp 0-85 (4) gf.
Croquembouche (IRE) 33-1 (9-3) Led, headed 3f out, lost place 2f out, soon weakened, 10th of 11, 27l behind Desert Snow (8-10) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcp 0-95 (3) in Oct.
Persepolis (IRE) 25-1 (8-6) Steadied start, pulled hard in rear, struggling over 2f out, soon beaten, last of 6, 16l behind Pinzolo (9-8) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcap (2) pol in Mar.
Elusive Guest (FR) 6-4fav (9-7) In rear, pushed along over 3f out, one pace and no impression, last of 5, 12l behind Imshivalla (8-9) at Pontefract 1m 3yo hcp 0-85 (4) gf in Jul.
Chain Of Events 10-1 (9-6) Tracked leaders in centre, ridden 3f out, weakened over 2f out, eased when no chance final furlong, last of 8, 17l behind Unison (9-0) at Newmarket 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gs in Oct.
Unison (IRE) 20-1 (9-0) Led centre group and 2nd overall, led over 1f out, ridden inside final furlong, strongly pressed in closing stages, held on gamely, all out, won at Newmarket 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gs in Oct beating Handheld (8-11) by hd, 8 ran.
Sweet Martoni 22-1 (8-12) Mid-division, driven to chase leaders over 2f out, soon ridden, kept on same pace, no impression, 9th of 18, 8l behind Mica Mika (8-7) at Doncaster 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gs in Mar.
Jack Of Diamonds (IRE) 20-1 (8-4) In touch, pushed along 4f out, ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 8th of 17, 10l behind Mahsoob (9-6) at Newbury 1m 2f hcp 0-90 (3) gf.
