Godolphin

6 ran 1m43.25  
Owner: Godolphin

An above-average listed event, even with the flop of favourite Zacinto, the 2 dead-heaters both proven in Group company, and Harrison George is a very solid marker for the form. RIO DE LA PLATA (USA) confirmed he's as good as ever by following up Nottingham in face of a stiffer task, albeit with honours shared, ridden positively and tough to pass as Mabait surged down his outside; he seems at his best when given time between races nowadays, symptomatic of the problems he had in early-2009. MABAIT clearly had something wrong at Newmarket 4 weeks earlier and bounced back immediately, confirming his overall progress with his first win out of handicaps, and he's worth a tad more credit than Rio de La Plata, having started further back (raced freely) and swept wider into the straight; he's very consistent overall and will win more races if kept to a realistic level. HARRISON GEORGE (IRE) is at a standard that will win plenty of listed races, beaten only by a pair that are capable in a higher grade here, and it was a typically gutsy effort, going from the front and beaten off only inside the final 1f; there's no doubt he stays this far but there may be more opportunities at this level for him around 7f. SIRVINO had an exceptional 2009, his 5 straight handicap wins culminating in the John Smith's Cup, and this was an encouraging return from almost 10 months off (flopped in the Cambridgeshire), very much looking as if in need of the race (dull in his coat) and brought back over an inadequate trip (likely to stay 1½m) yet not at all discredited, keeping on for hand riding; he's proven on good to soft and good to firm ground. ZACINTO's regression is confirmed by this below-par effort in face of a much easier task, at no stage even threatening, and the way he hung in the straight suggests he may be feeling something; as things stand, he's no betting proposition. LIGHT FROM MARS was out of his depth and didn't have an unduly hard race.