mid-division on outer, soon chasing leaders until weakened well over 2f out
held up, ridden over 3f out, one pace 2f out
held up, headway over 3f out, soon ridden, weakened inside final furlong
mid-division, led 2f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on
held up mid-division, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong
chased leaders, weakened over 2f out
held up, headway over 2f out, ridden well over 1f out, one pace
held up mid-division, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
tracked leaders, one pace final furlong
chased leaders, ridden over 3f out, led inside final furlong, driven out
This is a slight drop in class for MARTYR who is preferred to Rajeh, King Fingal, Cosmic Sun and Whispering Gallery. As the lengthy list of dangers suggests, this is a hard race to decipher. The unexposed Whispering Gallery is likely to be popular but this is a tough time for three-year-old's despite their weight-for-age allowance and as impressive as he was on debut, he will find this indefinitely tougher off a mark of 92. Instead then we prefer Martyr, a very consistent son of Cape Cross who is able to race off the same mark of 91 despite two decent thirds in hot races recently. Daryll Holland is riding out of his skin at the moment so the loss of Richard Hughes is not a major blow and from a good low draw he is fancied to take some pegging back. Rajeh is an interesting rival; he was fairly well-held at Ascot last time but now dropping in trip this strong-staying individual must be of interest with a strong pace likely. Carte Diamond has had an incident-packed career but recent runs have been below par; he would be a player on his old form but the feeling is that he can't be too far away from a well-earned rest. Red Kestrel is rated better than his run last time at Epsom where he didn't seem to handle the track, Rosbay is looking fairly handicapped at present, whilst Hillview Boy is an unexposed former bumper performer who should not be far away with jockey Micky Fenton (on top for his win at Hamilton) back on board. King Fingal should be more at home now returned to a flatter track as he didn't seem to act at Carlisle last time despite a previous win at Pontefract. Cosmic Sun was far from disgraced in defeat last time at Haydock and he races off the same mark of 88 today; the stable remain in good form and a mile and a half looks to be his optimum trip. This looks an open race, where we will just side with Martyr to come out on top.
Carte Diamond (USA) 40-1 (8-10) Held up behind, ridden 5f out, no chance when hampered inside final furlong, 14th of 17, 15l behind Som Tala (8-8) at Newcastle 2m hcap (2) sft in Jun.
Martyr 14-1 (8-11) Tracked leader, hard ridden over 2f out, stayed on well final furlong, 3rd of 17, 2 1/4l behind Drill Sergeant (9-7) at Royal Ascot 1m 4f hcp 105 (2) gf in Jun.
Rajeh (IRE) 25-1 (9-7) Mid-division, pushed along 3f out, soon beaten, 11th of 20, 22l behind Judgethemoment (9-5) at Royal Ascot 2m 4f hcp 0-95 (2) gf in Jun.
Red Kestrel (USA) 16-1 (9-1) In touch, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 14th of 16, 28l behind Coin Of The Realm (8-7) at Epsom Downs 1m 4f hcp 0-100 (2) gd in Jun.
Lochiel 8-1 (9-6) Held up in rear, ridden over 3f out, headway over 2f out, stayed on to take 3rd inside final furlong, 3rd of 12, 8l behind Record Breaker (9-10) at Hamilton 1m 4f hcp 0-90 (2) gf in Jun.
Resplendent Light 4-1 (9-6) Held up in touch, disputed 2nd over 4f out, ridden over 2f out, lost 3rd over 1f out, soon weakened, 4th of 6, 16l behind Warringah (9-8) at Windsor 1m 4f hcp 0-100 (2) gf in Jun.
Rosbay (IRE) 5-1 (9-4) Prominent, ridden along 3f out, driven to challenge and every chance approaching final furlong, kept on, 2nd of 7, 1 1/4l behind Wigwam Willie (9-7) at Ripon 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Jun.
Hillview Boy (IRE) 9-1 (10-3) Led, ridden over 1f out, headed entering final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 19, 5l behind Mull of Dubai (10-5) at York 1m 4f (3) gd in Jun.
King Fingal (IRE) 5-1fav (9-10) Mid-division, outpaced over 3f out, never dangerous, 9th of 15, 20l behind Overrule (9-6) at Carlisle 1m 3f hcp 0-80 (4) gf in Jun.
Whispering Gallery Evensfav (9-1) Chased leader, pushed along over 4f out, led well over 2f out, stayed on well, won at Hamilton 1m 1f mdn auc stks (6) gd in Jun beating Astrodiva (8-10) by 10l, 7 ran.
Cosmic Sun 11-2 (8-13) Soon steadied into mid-division, pushed along when switched right over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, kept on under pressure inside final furlong, went 3rd towards finish, 3rd of 7, 1 1/4l behind Quai D'orsay (9-4) at Haydock 1m 4f 3yo hcp 0-100 (2) gf.
