slowly into stride, soon in touch, driven to challenge 2f out, soon hung and left and right, outpaced by front pair final furlong
tracked leaders, pushed along 4f out, ridden to lead 2f out, narrowly headed over 1f out, rallied gamely to regain lead 1f out, out battled 2nd inside final furlong
soon tracking leader, driven 3f out, weakened 2f out
slowly into stride, held up in rear, ridden on outside 3f out, never in contention
in touch, ridden over 4f out, no impression until switched right to outside, stayed on inside final furlong
pulled hard, tracked leaders in 4th, led and still pulling inside final 4f, headed 2f out, weakened quickly
led until headed inside final 4f, weakened over 2f out
took keen hold and held up last, headway on outside over 2f out, led narrowly over 1f out, soon driven and flashed tail, headed 1f out and out battled inside final furlong
took keen hold in touch, pushed along 4f out, driven to chase leaders 2f out, soon not much room on rails and weakened
In a good race, Blue Monday gets the call ahead of Admiral's Cruise and Norse Dancer. Admiral's Cruise successfully stepped up to Group company at this track last time and is respected. A former Cambridgeshire winner, Blue Monday is better than ever this season, as evidenced by his Eclipse Stakes third in July, while Norse Dancer would be the one to beat if getting back to last season's form, which saw him run second in the King George at this venue. Some might argue and say that the successful globetrotter Phoenix Reach is the one to beat and, without doubt, he holds major claims if fully over his injuries now Finally, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Tam Lin is a lightly-raced improver in the right hands and, despite the fact he won a fairly-soft Group 3 race last time, is still very much respected today. Overall, though, Blue Monday gets the vote.
Admiral's Cruise (USA) 8-1 (9-3) Held up, headway 4f out, led inside final 2f, hung badly right final furlong, held on, all out, won at Newbury 1m 5f Grp 3 (1) gs in Aug beating Guadalajara (9-0) by 1/2l, 5 ran.
Blue Monday 11-2 (9-5) In touch, ridden over 2f out, one pace final furlong, 3rd of 7, 3l behind Notnowcato (9-5) at York 1m 2f Grp 1 (1) gs in Aug.
Crocodile Dundee (IRE) 6-1 (9-2) Tracked leaders, hard ridden to lead narrowly over 1f out, driven and held on gamely when hard pressed throughout final furlong, won at Windsor 1m 4f lst stk (1) gd in Aug beating Khyber Kim (9-2) by a hd, 8 ran.
Hattan (IRE) 5-1 (9-2) In touch, pushed along 4f out, effort on inside and hung left 2f out, soon beaten, 6th of 8, 3 1/2l behind Crocodile Dundee (9-2) at Windsor 1m 4f lst stk (1) gd in Aug.
Norse Dancer (IRE) (9-6) 7th of 9, 16l behind Prince Flori (8-9) at Baden-Baden 1m 4f Grp 1 (1) gd.
Phoenix Reach (IRE) 16-1 (9-0) Broke outw, last of 10, 12l behind The Tin Man (9-0) at Arlington 1m 2f Grp 1 (1) frm in Aug.
Mango Mischief (IRE) 15-2 (8-8) Led, edged left 2f out, caught close home, finished 2nd, disqualified and placed 6th, 2nd of 8, nk behind Atlantic Air (8-9) at Deauville 1m 2f Grp 3 (A) hvy in Aug. Later dsq to last.
Tam Lin 5-2fav (8-6) Took keen hold, tracked leaders, challenged from 2f out, chased leader over 1f out, ran on under hand riding to lead final 100 yards, won at Windsor 1m 2f Grp 3 (1) gd in Aug beating Reunite (8-3) by 1/2l, 11 ran.
Kaylianni 20-1 (8-10) Held up towards rear, never in contention, 12th of 15, 7l behind Strategic Mount (8-6) at Goodwood 1m 4f 3yo hcp 0-105 (2) gf in Aug.
