in touch, ridden and slightly outpaced 2f out, kept on final furlong
dwelt, pulled hard, headway to lead over 6f out until ridden and headed 3f out
tracked leaders, ridden and led 2f out, headed approaching final furlong, kept on same pace
led, headed over 6f out, led again 3f out, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened final furlong
tracked leaders, pushed along over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
held up in rear, ridden and headway over 1f out, soon led, ridden and stayed on well
held up in rear, headway with winner over 1f out, ridden, stayed on final furlong but always looked held by winner
pulled hard, in rear, virtually pulled up after 2f
Fishforcompliments has the highest rating of these but he is far from certain to stay this far and looks best left out of calculations with preference for Al Shemali, who gets the vote ahead of Salford Mill. The selection stepped up on the form shown on his Warwick debut when an easy winner at Newcastle subsequently on ground softer than ideal and, back on faster ground today, Sir Michael Stoute's colt looks the one to be on. Don't Panic showed a decent standard of form on all surfaces last term and has to be respected along with Richard Hannon's To The Max, who may be better than his showing at Longchamp suggests. Mick Channon's Massive should have no difficulty in staying the trip having gone close over similar distances last term but probably lacks the class to take a hand in the finish so a bigger threat may be the progressive Salford Mill. Lack of form on turf has to be of concern to David Elsworth's colt though and a safer bet looks to be Al Shemali, who gets the vote.
Al Shemali 11-8fav (9-0) Held up mid-division, headway over 2f out, led over 1f out, ran on final furlong, won at Newcastle 7f 2yo mdn (5) gs in Oct beating Gemology (9-0) by 3/4l, 12 ran.
Don't Panic (IRE) 13-2 (8-12) Held up in touch, pushed along over 2f out, never on terms, 8th of 10, 4l behind Thousand Words (8-12) at Newmarket 7f 2yo Grp 3 (1) sft in Sept.
Fishforcompliments 20-1 (9-1) Slowly into stride, soon in touch, driven over 2f out, never on terms, 7th of 13, 4l behind Hinton Admiral (9-3) at Lingfield 7f 3yo lst stk (1) pol in Mar.
Hearthstead Maison (IRE) 7-2 (9-0) Tracked leader, led halfway, ridden and headed inside final 2f, weakened quickly, 5th of 8, 17l behind Caldra (9-0) at Ascot 1m 2yo Grp 3 (1) gs in Oct.
Massive (IRE) (9-0) Mid-division, 8th straight, soon weakened behind Passage of Time (8-10) at Saint-Cloud 1m 2f Grp 1 (1) in Nov, 13 ran.
Petara Bay (IRE) 16-1 (9-0) Chased leaders, led over 2f out, weakened final furlong, 10th of 14, 13l behind Authorized (9-0) at Newbury 1m 2yo Grp 1 (1) hvy in Oct.
Salford Mill (IRE) 2-7fav (9-0) Dwelt, chased leader over 2f out, led jut inside final furlong, soon clear, pushed out, won at Lingfield 1m 2f 3yo mdn (5) pol in Jan beating Jocheski (9-3) by 2l, 8 ran.
To The Max (IRE) 28-1 (9-0) Raced in 2nd, weakened over 2f out, last of 9, 17l behind Holy Roman Emperor (9-0) at Longchamp 7f 2yo Grp 1 (1) gd in Oct.
