held up towards rear, headway to track leaders 3f out, ridden to lead 1f out, caught on line
prominent, went 2nd after 3f, ridden 3f out, soon weakened
mid-division until ridden 2f out, weakened quickly
soon outpaced, always towards rear
slowly into stride and soon outpaced never dangerous
held up towards rear, pushed along over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong without being dangerous
led until ridden and headed 1f out, soon weakened
chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
tracked leaders to 4f out, soon ridden and weakened
held up in touch, pushed along to chase leader 3f out, ridden over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong to get up on line
David Chapman-trained On The Trail has enjoyed one of his best seasons in training and can go in again in this company, while Nautical and Zhitomer have solid claims on recent form and are the prime candidates to chase him home. The last named was a strongly supported favourite when scoring as expected at Warwick a week ago and will make life tough for them all if in the same frame of mind here. However, he is set to race off a 5lb higher mark and could be vulnerable here. Similar comments apply to Yorker, who has enjoyed a renaissance period of late but now has a little more to find off a revised mark of 62. He has never been the most reliable in a finish and looks opposable outside of Banded Stakes contests these days. The booking of Frankie Dettori for Nautical will ensure that any value in the market is short-lived and he is one to bear in mind if there are signs of confidence from the ring. However, he does have a bit to do on these terms and others make a fraction more appeal. Which is where we turn to On The Trail, who is a versatile character that has been kept sharp by his wily veteran trainer. Chapman is a past master at getting the best out of these aging sprinters and, even though he steps up to seven furlongs tonight, this previous course and distance winner may be too battle hardened for the rest tonight.
