held up, switched left over 4f out, headway 3f out, ridden 2f out, ran on under pressure inside final furlong
tracked leaders, lost place when switched left over 4f out, switched right and headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, not reached winner
raced on stands rail, led 2f, left alone over 4f out, regained lead 3f out, cleared 2f out, held on gamely inside final furlong
chased winner until switched left to follow leader down centre over 4f out, ridden 2f out, held inside final fulrong
slowly away, pulled hard, soon switched left and headway to lead after 2f, headed 3f out, soon weakened, tailed off
Hughie Morrison's Stimulation has a long absence to overcome having not been seen since landing the Challenge Stakes at Newmarket last October but the ground may be too quick for the son of Choisir and preference is for another coming back after a lengthy break, HIMALYA, who gets the vote ahead of Ouqba. The Barry Hills-trained colt was well held behind Finjaan in the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood last time but earlier form when winning the Jersey Stakes looks solid and he has to be respected with ground conditions to suit. Brian Meehan's Cat Junior lost no caste in defeat behind Ordnance Row in the Supreme Stakes last month and he is another to consider along with Jeremy Noseda's Arabian Gleam, who ran as well as could have been expected in the Queen Anne when last seen in June and is now dropped in class. Edward Lynam's Duff won well enough in a Group 3 race at Leopardstown but this is tougher and preference is for the reappearing Himalya. Jeremy Noseda's gelding is the least exposed of the runners after just two career starts and ran well when last seen when a close fourth behind Art Connoisseur in the Coventry last season. If fit enough for his belated return to action, Himalya is more than good enough and is taken to make a winning reappearance.
Arabian Gleam 25-1 (9-0) Held up, raced on outside of chasing group, reminders halfway, hung right over 2f out and soon weakened, 7th of 9, 23l behind Paco Boy (9-0) at Royal Ascot 1m Grp 1 (1) gf in Jun.
Cat Junior (USA) 9-2 (9-0) Tracked leading pair, not clear run over 2f out, lost place, not clear run again well over 1f out, switched left and stayed on strongly inside final furlong, just missed 2nd, not recover, 3rd of 7, 1 1/4l behind Ordnance Row (9-0) at Goodwood 7f Grp 3 (1) gf in Aug.
Duff (IRE) 11-1 (9-7) Soon chased leaders on outer, pushed along halfway, weakened approaching final furlong, 8th of 11, 4l behind Ialysos (9-3) at Sandown 5f Grp 3 (1) gd in Jul.
Stimulation (IRE) 9-2fav (9-1) Raced far side, tracked leader, ridden over 1f out, led inisde final furlong, ran on, won at Newmarket 7f stks (1) gd in Oct beating Cat Junior (9-1) by 1 1/4l, 15 ran.
Himalya (IRE) 13-2 (9-1) Held up behind leaders, effort 2f out, driven to chase leaders over 1f out, green, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong, 4th of 18, 2 1/2l behind Art Connoisseur (9-1) at Ascot 6f 2yo Grp 2 (1) gf in Jun '08.
Ouqba 6-1 (8-9) Slowly into stride, in rear, switched to outside 3f out, hanging left inside final 2f, never dangerous, 6th of 8, 4l behind Finjaan (8-9) at Goodwood 7f stks (1) gd in Jul.
