held up towards rear, ridden over 2f out, kept on same pace final furlong, no impression
led, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened final furlong
behind, not clear run over 2f out, soon ridden, switched left over 1f out, stayed on inside last
tracked leaders, ridden over 1f out, rider dropped reins inside last, stayed on and edged left towards finish
chased leader, ridden to lead 2f out, held on well inside final furlong
chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
held up in touch, tracked leaders over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, soon every chance, not quicken final furlong
Mark Thompkins has a fair strike-rate with his runners at York and his St Petersburg is given a slender vote over Putra Kuantan and Blue Sky Thinking, who head the list of threats posed by the rest. Having said that, it will be interesting to see how the market speaks about Wizard Of Noz, who should have benefited from his run in the Royal Hunt Cup and he could get closer in this smaller field. Nevertheless, Jeremy Noseda's charge does have a little to find with a few of these on a literal reading of his Ascot form and he needs to conclusively prove that he has trained on into his four-year-old campaign. Putra Kuantan, whose yard have enjoyed one of their best seasons for quite some time, also has to be given the utmost respect if the betting suggests that the rain will not hinder his chance by too much as things unfold. However, he in turn, may not represent as much value as St Petersburg, who finished as the best of a well beaten bunch in the Jubilee Stakes last time. Shot To Fame has subsequently gone on to boost that form a couple of times and only failed to land a Listed race at Windsor by a head last the last time he ran. This bodes well for St Petersburg, who has improved steadily this year and has fewer questions than most regarding his ability to handle the under-foot conditions.
