chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden 2f out, weakened final furlong
held up, challenging when not clear run over 2f out, kept on final furlong, just held
led, headed 2f out, soon weakened
chased leader, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong
held up, headway 2f out, stayed on final furlong, never nearer
held up, challenged on outside 2f out, weakened well inside final furlong
mid-division, ridden to lead 2f out, held on well under pressure
mid-division, driven over 3f out, kept on, no impression
Benandonner lost no caste in a narrow defeat behind Charlie Farnsbarns at York last month and is taken to go one better off a 2lb higher mark today, getting the verdict ahead of Tazeez and Plum Pudding. The last mentioned disappointed at Doncaster last time but has solid claims on earlier form at Newmarket, however, he would probably want the ground to dry out so looks best watched. Marco Botti's Scartozz has shown a decent level of form since joining current connections and will not mind any remaining cut in the ground, while Striving Storm is less exposed than most of these but is held by the selection on running at York. Zero Tolerance made an encouraging reappearance at Beverley last month and David Barron's gelding has to be considered off just a 2lb higher mark today. John Gosden's Tazeez looks to be going the right way and makes his handicap debut off what seems a fair mark but it is hard to get away from Benandonner, who gets the vote.
Benandonner (USA) 7-4fav (9-4) Chased leader and keen, switched right over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, stayed on inside final furlong, not quicken towards finish, 2nd of 5, shd behind Charlie Farnsbarns (9-4) at York 1m 1f stk (3) gf in May.
Plum Pudding (IRE) 6-1 (8-11) Led, ridden and headed over 2f out, soon beaten, 13th of 14, 41l behind Dhaular Dhar (8-1) at Doncaster 7f hcap (2) gd in May.
Scartozz 15-2 (9-7) Tracked leader, ridden to lead over 2f out, hung right over 1f out, kept on gamely, won at Redcar 1m hcp 0-60 (2) gf beating Billy Dane (8-2) by a ns. Later dsq to 2nd, 5 ran.
Rio Riva 7-1 (9-3) In touch, driven over 2f out, soon weakened, 12th of 14, 14l behind Extraterrestrial (8-5) at Thirsk 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gd in May.
Striving Storm (USA) 6-1 (9-4) Led, headed 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, last of 5, 3 1/2l behind Charlie Farnsbarns (9-4) at York 1m 1f stk (3) gf in May.
Tazeez (USA) 4-1 (9-12) Raced centre, led over 2f out, soon ridden, ran on well, won at Yarmouth 1m mdn stk (5) gd in May beating Decameron (9-0) by 3 1/2l, 16 ran.
Flipando (IRE) 16-1 (8-11) Towards rear, some progress 3f out, never nearer, 16th of 29, 21l behind Mr Aviator (9-5) at Royal Ascot 1m hcap (2) gf.
Collateral Damage (IRE) 14-1 (8-2) Mid-division, headway over 2f out, driven and one pace final furlong, 4th of 8, 6l behind Laa Rayb (9-4) at Ripon 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gf in May.
Kingsdale Orion (IRE) 10-1 (8-6) Slowly into stride, pushed along early straight, headway over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, 7th of 14, 8l behind Little White Lie (8-13) at Epsom 1m 1f hcp 0-105 (2) gd.
Zero Tolerance (IRE) 11-1 (9-5) Held up behind leaders, headway 2f out, driven and kept on final furlong, 2nd of 17, hd behind Full Victory (9-1) at Beverley 1m hcp 0-85 (4) gd in May.
