held up in rear, smooth progress to go 3rd over 1f out, soon ridden and no impression inside final furlong
chased leaders in 3rd, no extra from 2f out, weakened
soon led and made most, ridden 2f out and strongly pressed 1f out, kept on well under pressure to assert inside final furlong
prominent and tracked leader in 2nd, ridden and dropped to 4th 2f out, no extra under pressure final furlong
chased leaders, 6th halfway, no extra from 2f out
chased leaders, 4th halfway, ridden in 3rd 2f out, no extra from 1f out, weakened
settled behind leaders, 5th halfway, smooth headway over 2f out to go 2nd, ridden to challenge 1f out but no impression on winner inside final furlong, kept on same pace
Ballydoyle have won this five times in the past 10 years and will be expecting victory number six via NEPHRITE, currently a 20/1 chance for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. The son of Pivotal gained a very easy victory on his debut here, beating a huge field of maidens, then beat the much-touted Born To Sea in a Grade 3 at Leopardstown in October. It will be a shock to connections if he's beaten especially as Tough As Nails, who had cracking form at the highest level in his first campaign, never got going on his reappearance at Cork. Bible Black is held by the selection on a line through Born To Sea while Aidan O'Brien's second string Requisition will need to improve massively to take a hand.
Nephrite 13-8 (9-1) Settled off strong pace in 4th, smooth headway to close entering straight, ridden to challenge over 1f out, led over 100 yards out and kept on well, won at Leopardstown 7f 2yo Grp 3 (1) in Oct beating Born To Sea (9-1) by 1 1/2l, 7 ran.
Hexagonal (IRE) 25-1 (9-0) Mid-division centre, ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out, last of 16, 20l behind Ponty Acclaim (8-11) at Ascot 5f 2yo Grp 3 (1) gd in Oct.
Requisition (IRE) 6-1 (9-3) Always prominent, challenged under pressure and led into straight, pressed and stayed on well inside final furlong, won at Galway 1m 2yo mdn gd in Aug beating Fatcatinthehat (9-0) by 3/4l, 11 ran.
Tough As Nails (IRE) 7-1 (8-10) Slowly into stride and never a factor, eased when beaten final furlong, 10th of 15, 9l behind The Reaper (9-7) at Cork 6f Listed stks (1) gf.
Where's Danny (IRE) 7-1 (9-5) Always prominent, no impression under pressure and kept on same pace from over 1f out, 4th of 15, 14l behind Amira's Prince (9-5) at Curragh 1m 3yo mdn in Mar.
Caonach (IRE) 16-1 (8-9) Chased leaders, ridden in 4th 2f out, stayed on well final furlong to go 2nd close home, 2nd of 14, 1l behind Soohaad (9-0) at Gowran Park 7f 3yo mdn sft.
Coolnagree (IRE) 7-2 (8-7) Tracked leaders in 4th, improved from 2f out, challenged and led under 1f out, stayed on well under pressure, won at Curragh 7f 3yo ext hcp in Mar beating Ishvana (9-10) by 1l, 7 ran.
Bible Black (IRE) 11-1 (8-9) 6th of 14, 2 1/4l behind Factory Time (8-9) at Meydan(UAE) 7f con stks gd in Feb.
