pushed along to lead early, pressed 3 1/2f out, ridden over 2f out, headed final 150 yards, kept on same pace
chased leader, 3rd halfway, ridden over 1f out, no impression on winner final 100 yards, kept on same pace
raced in rear, 7th halfway, travelled well 3f out, pushed along and progress 1 1 /2f out, ridden to close 1f out, led final 150 yards, kept on well, comfortably
dwelt, raced towards rear, took closer order in 5th halfway, under pressure 3 1/2f out, ridden over 2f out, no impression, no extra final furlong
towards rear, 6th halfway, progress 3 1/2f out, ridden and no impression 1 1/2f out, no extra final furlong
tracked leader in 2nd, challenged leader 3 1/2f out, ridden and every chance under 2f out, dropped to 4th under 1f out, one paced
chased leader, 4th halfway, niggled along under 3f out, ridden and lost place over 1f out, weakened final furlong
Most of these enter the fray in top form including BATON ROUGE (NAP), a son of Galileo who had some decent juvenile form and showed he had trained on with an emphatic victory at Dundalk. Benaud won a Leopardstown handicap when last seen in October but a bigger threat may emerge in the shape of Bear Story, who has improved with every run and stayed on nicely behind Sir Lamorak at Leopardstown last month. He was narrowly beaten by Ratib on the Polytrack in November so the latter has to be considered despite not having run since that day. Soaring Sky is 2-3 though will need to do better than when scrambling home in a Limerick handicap.
Baton Rouge (IRE) 5-4fav (9-7) Tracked leaders, headway to dispute halfway and led approaching straight, ridden 2f out, edged right inside final furlong, drew clear final 100 yards, won at Dundalk 1m mdn pol in Mar beating Golden Lyric (9-2) by 4 3/4l, 12 ran.
Ides Of August (USA) 20-1 (10-2) Dwelt and pushed along briefly, waited with, 10th halfway, raced on outer straight and headway, kept on same pace without threatening final furlong, 6th of 13, 7 3/4l behind Sir Lamorak (9-7) at Leopardstown 1m 2f hcp gd in Apr.
Benaud (IRE) 9-2 (9-11) Slowly into stride and in rear, m 15th 3f out, headway on outer and pushed along over 2f out, improved into 3rd and ridden 1f out, led inside final furlong, stayed on well, won at Leopardstown 1m hcp Yielding - Soft in Oct beating Hector De Maris (9-12) by 2l, 16 ran.
Catena Zapata (IRE) 50-1 (9-5) Disputed lead early, a little keen, soon led, joined 3 1/2f out, headed 1 1/2f out, weakened inside final furlong, last of 8, 9 3/4l behind Bolshoi Ballet (9-5) at Leopardstown 1m 2f Grp 3 stks (1) gd in Apr.
Soaring Sky (IRE) 10-1 (9-12) A little keen, waited with, soon towards rear, headway on outer straight and effort from over 1f out, led closing stages and stayed on well, won at Limerick 1m 3f hcp gd in Apr beating Macadam's Rock (9-3) by 1/2l, 9 ran.
New Reality (IRE) 16-1 (9-7) Close up in 2nd, pushed along before straight, soon challenged, stayed on well final furlong to lead near line, won at Tipperary 1m 4f mdn Yielding in Apr beating Modus Operandi (9-7) by hd, 10 ran.
Ratib 8-13fav (9-7) Chased leaders, 5th and pushed along 2f out, ridden in 2nd 1f out, improved to lead inside final furlong, stayed on well, won at Dundalk 1m mdn pol in Nov beating Bear Story (9-7) by 1/2l, 14 ran.
Maar (IRE) 12-1 (9-2) Mid-division on outer, pushed along entering straight, ridden and no impression in rear of mid-division 2f out, no extra, last of 15, 15 1/2l behind Rocky Sky (9-2) at Navan 1m 2f lst fll stks (1) gd in Apr.
Bear Story (IRE) 11-1 (9-5) Led early, a little keen, soon mid-division, disputed 7th halfway, pushed along 3f out, headway and effort straight, kept on without troubling winner inside final furlong, 2nd of 13, 3 3/4l behind Sir Lamorak (9-7) at Leopardstown 1m 2f hcp gd in Apr.
