Some of the interest in this handicap was lost with the withdrawal of top-weight and Derby entry Daylami Star, but it still featured a few three-year-olds open to improvement and the way two improving, unexposed types came clear in the straight - with the rest strung out like stragglers in a four-mile chase - suggested they were both well ahead of the assessor. SWAN QUEEN had not been let in lightly for her handicap debut judged on the bare form of the Folkestone maiden she had been awarded, but she proved she is a good deal better than that, held up before coming through to lead entering the final two furlongs and just getting the better of a sustained duel with the runner-up. She had to survive a stewards' inquiry herself this time, having betrayed her inexperience by wandering and seeming to interfere with the second, but she is the type to continue to improve and the King George V Handicap looks a likely target for her.

But the same race could well be on the agenda for Cool Customer, who had created a favourable impression in winning both his starts since stepped up to this trip and might have completed a hat-trick had he not been intimidated by the winner coming into him well over a furlong out and twice being struck on the head by the winning jockey's whip. Though he will be heading up the handicap, he remains one to keep on the right side.

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