City Of Troy is an uneasy favourite .
Take a look at the form for Royal Rhyme . Everybody trots out the line that he needs soft ground . His runs behind Alflaila and Auguste Rodin were on fast ground and , if you want to , you could make excuses for both of those efforts .
He has less than 2 lengths to find with Alflaila but the difference in price is considerable .
Ghostwriter should love the ground and connections are adamant that he stays .
The Lion In Winter 0+
Mr Chaplin 0
The Waco Kid +3
Ruling Court +3+
Rajeko +3
Diable Rojo +4
Wimbledon Hawkeye +5
Ruling Court was a shade of odds on when last I looked and is a lay . At present his form does not compare to that of the Ballydoyle colt . By that I mean the quality of the form .
The Lion beat Currawood who came from a race that has produced the winners of 7 races including a Group2 from 17 runs . The third horse won a decent race next time up . The tendrils of the form stretch far and wide .
Ruling Court beat a horse that finished second next time out and the third horse won a little race at Beverley when next seen .
A case could be made for Yaroogh but one would have to believe that Seagull Eleven ran to his best on his debut .
Ides Of March 0
Henri Matisse 0+
Whistlejacket +3
Rashabar +4
Hotazhel +4
Apples And Bananas +5
Ancient Truth +5
Wolf Of Badenoch +6
Shadow Of Light +6+
Electrolyte +6
Surpass +7
Scorthy Champ +7
Rock Of Cashel +7
Delacroix +7+
Camille Pissaro +7
If we have seen the top 2 y o colt I doubt that we have seen the best of him .
Way down the list is Hazdann , he is said to have an entry but I can not find it . His maiden seems to have been ignored by everyone . 10lb from the top at present but he must have potential . I will not spoil it for you but after scrutiny you should see that 1st and 2nd level form stands inspection .
And , if you use due diligence , you should find a Derby outsider who is currently in the 33/1 bar range .
The fillies are not up to date as there are too many provisionals at the moment .
Lake Victoria -4 doubtful
Fairy Godmother 0+
Mountain Breeze 0
Simmering +1
Leovanni +1
Celandine +1
Heaven's Gate +2
...............
City Of Troy 0
Bluestocking +3
Maljoom +5
Zarakem +6
Royal Rhyme +6
Ghostwriter +6
The fly in the ointment being that City Of Troy has not run to his best figure this season .
Economics is way down the list as his Dante win looks worthless at the moment . +9
Calandagan form looks shakey too hence +7
...........
King's Gambit 0
Deira Mile 0
Space Legend +1
Illinois +3
Los Angeles +4
Euphoric +7
Hmmmm , interesting .
Lake Victoria 0+
Mountain Breeze 0
Angelica Bay +5?
Dream Voyage +6
Liberalised +7+
Flaming Stone +11+
Elsie's Ruan + 13+
No real framework to the form yet but this race could clarify several lines and , hopefully , give us a way in to the French fillies .
...........
Whistlejacket 0
Rudis Apple +1
Shadow Army +1
Babouche +2
Heaven's Gate +3
Arizona Blaze +7
Rudis Apple is Nursery form .
Shadow Army form has taken a knock .
Lia Fail 0
Speedwood +1
Uncle Albert +2
Louiescall +3
Auguste Lumiere +3
Artful Approach +3
Perfect Judgement +4
Cornhill Soldier +4
A wide open contest but , for the first time this season , Lia Fail has her chance . Dropped 18lb , the going will suit , she has course form and a very good rider .
In the Gra Chocolates she ran respectably against Portland and Jakajaro . They ran off of 90 and 86 respectively and both are now on 105 . She beat Uncle Albert giving him 7lb , tomorrow she is receiving 5lb . She has an entry on Wednesday too .
At 50/1 she is well worth a punt .