Last season's race

• Winner: Ebt's Guard
• Jockey: Per-Anders Graberg
• Trainer: William Muir and Chris Grassick
• Owner: Mr Jayant Pindolia
• Age: 4 Weight: 9st 13lbs
• Starting Price: 13-2
• Season Form Figures: 1034752
• Previous Best: 1st - Spring Cup Handicap (Class 2), Newbury (April 2025)

By Paul Jones

For older horses rated 0-105 (was 0-100 up until and including the 2022 running), this round mile takes some getting and it is therefore significant that all bar one winner had won over at least this trip before. In fact, the 2022 winner, Jungle Cove, was not only a rare success for horses trained in Ireland (few have tried) but he had won over 1m2f two starts earlier.

More surprisingly, all ten winners up until Power Of Darkness landed the 2020 edition (and then the following five winners), arrived here off a defeat, especially as their last run was in the previous five weeks, six of which at Goodwood.

As with many other races on this card, it has paid not to look beyond four and five-year-olds as only one winner has been older in the last 21 years. Four-year-olds hold the advantage having won nine of the last 15 runnings from around one-third representation which included no runners on an occasion so they are faring better than the bare figures suggest.

Of the last 21 winners, only two struck at over 8-1. Favourites were on a long losing though until three on the spin between 2019-2021 proved successful (including joint and co-favs) and again in 2024. The 2023 winner, Perotto, became the sixth second-favourite to win in the last 15 years.

The higher-weighted horses have fared marginally best of late with ten of the last 16 winners carrying 9st 7lbs+ more from less than 50% representation.

Andrew Balding has much the best record winning the race on three occasions. David Simcock has trained one winner and three places from six runners, and a lady rider has won five of the last 11 runnings, three of which were booted home by the now-retired Hayley Turner.