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KHAADEM had built up a ten-race losing sequence after winning the 2019 Stewards’ Cup. Dropping to the minimum trip did the job last Wednesday, as he showed plenty of speed and was always holding off his five rivals. He has more to offer over this trip.
ROYAL SCIMITAR has been unable to add to his debut success in nine subsequent outings but he was first in his group at Newmarket in July and slow starts have been holding him back recently, including at Ascot last time out when he recovered for second.
AL AASY kicked off his campaign with two effortless victories at this venue and showed he wasn’t far off the very best middle-distance horses with narrow defeats in the Coronation Cup and the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes. He has been gelded during a subsequent break and can make the most of a drop in grade.
HALA HALA ATHMANI went off favourite for her debut at Carlisle last month and didn’t disappoint, leaving her rivals standing when Kevin Stott asked for an effort. She is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Hello Youmzain and should be able to cope with this step up in grade.
KING OF CLUBS gets the vote. Hughie Morrison’s three-year-old added a second success at Sandown last month, where he came with a powerful late run to catch subsequent winner Victory Chime. There should be more to come in what will be just the eighth start of his career.
A case can be made for plenty of the runners in the Ayr Gold Cup and SNAZZY JAZZY is the one who catches the eye.
He won the 2018 Silver Cup and it looked as though he was coming back to the boil over 5½f at York last time out, as he couldn’t quite to get grips with the leaders but was plugging on at the finish.
DHABAB looked great when winning his debut at Leicester in June and is better than two subsequent defeats suggest, because he didn’t get a clear run in the Coventry and found 7f too far in the Superlative. That form looks even better after Native Trail followed up in an Irish Group 1 on Sunday.
Two recent defeats for CRUYFF TURN have come on soft ground but he has thrived on a less testing surface and showed a gutsy attitude to win at York last time out. Tim Easterby’s front-runner has only gone up 3lb and, as he showed then, it will take a strong rival to get past him.
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