chased leaders, went 2nd over 2f out, driven to press winner approaching final furlong, no extra and well held final 150 yards
chased leaders, ridden and ran on same pace final 2f
soon led, headed halfway, stayed chasing winner to over 2f out, hard driven and no extra final furlong
raced keenly, tracked leader, led halfway, pushed along and drew clear final 150 yards
in touch to halfway, soon outpaced
Bahamian Pirate looks to have been found a fairly straightforward opportunity and is taken to open his account for the campaign with Mitcham and Folio most likely to chase him home. The selection is a high-class sprinter on his day as he showed when chasing home stablemate Continent in the July Cup last term and it will a surprise if the David Nicholls-trained gelding is not good enough to beat his rivals here. The son of Housebuster should strip fitter for having had a couple of outings and, with any further softening of the ground to suit, he gets the vote. The Terry Mills-trained Mitcham looks the main danger having run respectably to Nicholls improving sprinter Fire Up The Band at Newmarket last time and it would be a fitting swansong for the soon-to-be-retired gelding if he were to bow out win a win here. Folio should be suited by this sharp six furlongs, while New Foundation needs to improve markedly on her reappearance run. Karaoke King looks to be out of his depth.
