Dark Shot loves finishing second in general, and also loves finishing second over 5f at Epsom, so maybe I should have foreseen what was going to happen! He ran a cracker, travelling powerfully for some time, but the eventual winner got first run and he was never going to be able to catch up. It was a solid effort, however, and he'll be winning something on the turf again in the not too distant future.

The money came for Alfred Boucher as he shortened from 10/1 into 11/2. I was happy with the value finding aspect of that bet and he moved along nicely in behind runners, but again those up top weren't coming back and he came third, doing best of those that weren't bang on the pace. A good return to action from a horse who is definitely more talented than I used to think he was! He's worth tracking for a couple of outings.

-2.00pts on the day.

Dingle tempted me last week when he ran at Newbury but I was worried he might need what was his first spin since September and that's how it looked as he finished in third place, although he would have been closer were it not for the runner-up wandering in-front of him. It's interesting that he's turned out so quickly (2lbs well-in) and stepping back up to a mile on a track that should suit him is a plus. This is a decent race but we haven't seen the best of Richard Hannon's runner yet and might do so today. 

The betting would suggest that Adayar is Charlie Appleby's second string and Goldolphin's third, but I'm not so sure. The well-bred Frankel colt hasn't been tested beyond maiden level at Nottingham, where both his runs so far have been, but the visual impression he gave off when bolting up second time out was that of a Group horse in the making and he should be doing far better over this longer trip. It remains to be seen how good he actually is but at 10/1, it's worth taking a chance on him being up to this Group 3 level.