Newmarket

Al Aasy continues to defy his advancing years but the concession of 5lb may prove too tough for him this time. Instead, this may well be where AEGEAN PRINCE can graduate successfully into Group events. He's had just one race this year but it was a deeply impressive win, when the considerable promise of his earlier runs came to fruition with a runaway win in a good 1m6f handicap. The chief element of doubt arises from that race having been staged on heavy going, which would also have prevailed had this race gone ahead at its usual venue (Newbury was abandoned) whereas the ground here is seemingly unlikely to be anything like that testing. With Al Qareem needing to put his last two efforts way behind him, third on the list is Royal Playwright.[Richard Austen]