held up in rear, smooth headway from 3f out, ran on final furlong, not reach winner
headway after 3f, ridden halfway, soon weakened
held up, ridden halfway weakened over 3f out
slowly into stride, held up mid-division, never troubled leaders
held up in rear, kept on, never dangerous
made most, ridden over 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra
slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway 5f out, kept on one pace
held up well in rear, kept on final 2 furlong, never nearer
close up, hung left over 10f out, ridden halfway, weakened over 4f out
close up, hampered over 10f out, ridden over 4f out, weakened over 2f out
prominent, ridden and every chance over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
chased leaders, ridden and weakened 3f out
soon chased leaders, weakened over 5f out
chased leaders, ridden 3f out, weakened final furlong
slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway from 5f out, ridden 3f out, kept on, not reach leaders
held up, headway from 4f out, led inside final furlong, ridden out
Maybe not quite as competitive as it looks this, with many of them having to produce lifetime bests to score, and we will side with hat-trick seeking Flamboyant Lad to get the better of Elmustanser, Notable Guest and Solo Flight. The selection gets in off bottom weight and has the very capable Paul Hanagan up as a result. A winner over 10 furlongs at both Pontefract and here at Newmarket on his two latest outings, he has gone up 4lb, but looks more than capable of defying that rise over this longer trip, and he has been seeing out his races well over shorter. He is a lightly raced sort and open to enough improvement to take this. Elmustanser is the Godolphin representative in the field and he has already been tried over the trip when runner-up at Kempton last time. However, he was shade disappointing that day, having looked the winner, and time should see that his optimum will be 10 furlongs, so he is opposed. If Notable Guest gets home then he could pose problems for the selection. Sir Michael Stoute's colt won his maiden over nine furlongs at Hamilton last time, but has plenty in his breeding to suggest that he will also be effective over a mile and a half and another good run is anticipated. Of the remainder, Solo Flight put in another solid effort last time over the trip and though he too looks best over 10 furlongs, he is capable of making the frame here. But our idea of the winner is Flamboyant Lad.
