led, ridden over 1f out, headed final furlong, stayed on inside
chased leader, ridden over 2f out, weakened inside final furlong
chased leaders, ridden to lead final furlong, stayed on
slowly into stride, outpaced behind, stayed on well approaching final furlong
slowly into stride, pushed along and outpaced in rear, tailed off final 2f
An interesting opener to the card where the market will give a good indication to the expectations held by the connections of the various newcomers. However, Mystical Land is weighted to reverse Haydock form with Apologies and, as such, the John Gosden-trained colt is taken to edge it over his old rival and Bigalos Bandit, who shaped up well on his debut and should be capable of giving them all something to think about if repeating the effort. Space Shuttle appeals most out of the debutantes and any market confidence will be an obvious plus. However, his stable's two-year-olds do tend to come on for a run though and he may be one to take notes on this time around. This contrasts the challenge presented by Mystical Land, who has the benefit of experience on his side and he is expected to know a lot more about what is required of him this time around. The son of Xaar got better the further he went on his debut and caught the eye in sticking to the task when his chance had gone inside the final furlong. His trainer will have drawn plenty of positive conclusions from that race and it has to be considered significant that he is confident of taking on Apologies again today. Bigalos Bandit may be the one to present the selection with the most to do if he repeats the effort of his debut run. However, considering Gosden's record with horses that have already had a run, this looks to be the ideal time to catch Mystical Land.
