prominent early, tracked leaders, shaken up to close 2f out, led 1f out, stayed on well
soon led, headed over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
slow to break, pulled hard in rear, some headway and hung left over 1f out, soon weakened
chased leaders, not much room over 2f out on inside, ridden over 1f out, stayed on same pace
soon tracking leader, led over 2f out, headed 1f out, no extra final 100 yards
mid-division, headway over 1f out, challenged entering final furlong, stayed on, held towards finish
slow to break, in rear, wide turning in, headway over 1f out, no impression inside final furlong
held up towards rear, last over 4f out, headway over 1f out, went 3rd inside final furlong, stayed on
The handicapper has taken no chances rating STAR OF BENGAL so highly but the latter scored by a wide margin at Wolverhampton in November when looking potentially Group-class and he gets the vote. Exec Chef was beaten only a length when fourth at Newmarket last time and is preferred to last month’s course and distance winner Nonios. The latter’s stablemate Highbrow returns to action while Marco Botti runs two with Al Hamdany preferred to new inmate Domagnano, a Listed winner in Italy. Both Dark Red and Mount Tahan are capable at this level on their day though neither arrive in good form.
Star Of Bengal 8-11fav (9-5) Always prominent, driven to lead over 2f out, soon clear, unchallenged after, very easily, won at Wolverhampton 1m 1f mdn stks (5) pol in Nov beating Simple Thought (9-0) by 10l, 13 ran.
Mount Tahan (IRE) 28-1 (9-5) Mid-division, ridden 3f out, soon weakened, 11th of 12, 25 1/2l behind Soto Sizzler (8-9) at Epsom 1m 4f hcp (3) gd in Apr.
Domagnano (IRE) (8-12) 6th of 7, 12l behind Assiro (8-9) at San Siro 1m 1f lst stks sft in Sep.
Highbrow 9-1 (9-4) Always towards rear, 10th of 14, 19 1/4l behind Aquarium (9-4) at York 1m 2f hcp (2) sft in Oct.
Al Hamdany (IRE) 22-1 (9-3) Held up in mid-division, progress over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, one pace final furlong, 5th of 14, 2 1/2l behind Bartholomeu Dias (9-1) at Newcastle 1m 4f hcp (2) pol in Apr.
Exec Chef (IRE) 9-1 (8-9) Tracked leaders, pushed along and switched right approaching final furlong, stayed on towards finish, 4th of 10, 1l behind Elector (8-7) at Newmarket 1m 1f hcp stks (2) gf in May.
Nonios (IRE) 8-1 (9-6) Held up mid-division, ridden over 1f out, kept on same pace, 4th of 8, 3 1/2l behind Mythical Madness (9-4) at Chelmsford City 1m 2f hcp (2) pol in May.
Dark Red (IRE) 7-1 (8-11) Raced wide tracked leaders, chased winner 4f out, ridden over 2f out, weakened final furlong, 5th of 7, 13 3/4l behind Matterhorn (9-9) at Kempton 1m 2f hcp (2) pol in Mar.