Withhold must carry the burden of top weight and 9-10 on his back and it is a tall order but he might just have the class to prevail. A winner of the Cesarewitch in 2017, albeit off a vastly lower mark, he certainly knows his way around this track.
His record at Newmarket is top notch with three winners and a second from his four visits here. On top of his impressive win in this race four years ago, he won the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes over 2m by six lengths in 2019. He then won another Listed race here in 2020 on the July course.
Roger Charlton’s eight-year-old has eaten at the top table, fourth to Stradivarius in the 2020 Ascot Gold Cup. He arrives here in good order after finishing second in a 2m4f Goodwood handicap in July. This is a big ask at the weights but his record around here speaks for itself and I think he can hit the frame at a price. – Adrian Wall
Third in this race last year, Takarengo has once more been drawn wide, though five of the last six winners have come from stall 20 or higher, so that may not be such the issue as some would have you believe.
In hindsight, he was perhaps sent for home early enough twelve months back and should be able to step up on his recent form with cheekpieces added back into the mix.
They have been missing on both starts so far this autumn, winning at Clonmel on the first of those. That was a bit of a surprise given he doesn’t have much of a record fresh but shows that this should still be a workable mark.
This will have been the target circled in the calendar by connections all year with his best form coming in the autumn. With as many as eight places available, it’s a race that’s worth taking a risk on an outsider or two and he very much fits that bill. – Matt Newman
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