held up in touch, good headway on wide outside and ran wide into straight, led inside final furlong, soon clear
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
in touch, ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out
chased leader, pushed along halfway, ridden to chase winner final 150 yards, no impression
led, ridden and headed inside final furlong, weakened
chased leaders, hard ridden 2f out, weakened rapidly
slowly into stride, held up in last pair, still plenty to do straight, ran on final furlong, not reach leaders
slowly away, outplaced in last pair, ridden and struggling halfway
slowly into stride, towards rear, ridden on outside 2f out, kept on one pace final furlong
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, weakened rapidly final furlong
Best Double is the pick over Al Qasi, with King Of Charm, Fen Guest and Even Bolder others to consider. It has to be said that the Gerard Butler stable is not in good form at present, but on past evidence, Best Double is capable of finally losing his maiden tag. The son of Compton Place has been placed eight times in 13 career outings to date, and has therefore been costly to follow, but it is hard to fancy any of his opponents strongly here, and with the step back up in trip to help, he is selected to come good. Al Qasi pulled much too hard on his Newmarket debut, but shaped fairly well in sixth behind Multidimensional, so at least has some scope for this his first try on the Polytrack. King Of Charm met trouble in running at Folkestone on his third visit to the racecourse and now sports blinkers over an extra furlong. Fen Guest caught the eye staying on at Yarmouth on his debut just short of 12 months ago but will need the run, while Even Bolder is already starting to look exposed. In a race that will take little winning, Best Double appears to have the best credentials despite the stable's poor run.
Al Qasi (IRE) 11-4jt-fav (9-3) Pulled hard, in touch, hung left from halfway, ridden 3f out, weakened from well over 1f out, 6th of 9, 13l behind Multidimensional (9-3) at Newmarket 1m 3yo mdn (5) gf in Jun.
Bobby Rose 9-2jt-fav (9-7) Held up in touch, ridden over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 12th of 14, 9l behind Mataram (9-4) at Lingfield 7f 3yo hcp (6) pol in Jun.
Cativo Cavallino 33-1 (9-3) Behind most of way, 12th of 15, 7l behind Linda Green (9-5) at Windsor 6f hcp 0-70 (5) gf.
Even Bolder 16-1 (9-7) Led 1f, remained prominent, led again over 2f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 7th of 12, 6l behind Catbang (9-2) at W'hampton 7f 3yo hcp (5) pol in Jun.
King of Charm (IRE) 2-1fav (9-0) Outpaced and soon driven along in rear, headway when not clear run over 1f out, one pace and no impression after, 5th of 7, 2 1/2l behind Safari Mischief (9-0) at Folkestone 5f mdn stk (5) gf in Jun.
Best Double 9-1 (8-9) Behind, ridden over 2f out, never dangerous, 5th of 7, 7l behind Loch Verdi (9-3) at Hamilton 5f 3yo fll hcp (4) gf in Jun.
Fen Guest 40-1 (8-9) Slowly into stride, keen, held up, headway and not clear run over 1f out, switched left, ran on inside final furlong, nearest finish, 4th of 9, 2 1/2l behind New Art (9-0) at Yarmouth 5f 2yo mdn (5) gf.
Everygrainofsand (IRE) Desert Sun gelding, brother to 6f & 7f winner Delphie Queen, half-brother to winners up to 1m.
