slowly away, towards rear and soon switched right, ridden well over 2f out, stayed on final furlong
in touch, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
mid-division, ridden over 2f out, one pace, no impression final furlong
towards rear and pushed along, ridden over 2f out, soon no impression
dwelt, soon chasing leaders, ridden to chase winner 2f out, kept on, no impression
held up, effort halfway, kept on final furlong, not troubled leaders
chased leader, led 3f out, ridden clear over 1f out
mid-division, ridden halfway, soon weakened
led, headed 3f out, soon ridden, weakened final 2f
chased leaders, weakened 2f out
mid-division, ridden halfway, soon weakened
In an interesting maiden, Museeb just gets the call ahead of King Forever, with Aiguille and Dabbers Ridge being others to consider. Museeb is beautifully-bred, being a half brother to, among others, Elnadim and Mehtaaf, and he has shown more than enough in two starts to date to suggest that he can land a race of this nature. The possible downside is that he has never raced on going with give in it. King Forever showed plenty of promise on his Newmarket debut last season, his sole start to date, and is sure to be suited by the step up in trip today, so he rates a big danger. From the Richard Hannon stable, the 150,000 euros purchase Aiguille should be monitored in the betting, but Mark Johnston's Orion Bell showed little on his debut. Cavan Gael showed enough on Turf last season - and on the all-weather recently - to suggest that he can improve this year, but the likelihood is that he will need to to feature today, while Chairman Rick is another that should improve this year, particularly at today's type of trip and further. Cream Of Esteem was behind Cavan Gael here last time but was staying on late in the day, but Dabbers Ridge was ahead of them both and could well confirm that form. The last-named's stable companion, C'Est la Vie, looks the weaker of the two Barry Hills runners. All of which brings us back to the selection, which is Museeb.
Aiguille (USA) Royal Academy colt out of a lightly-raced mare.
Cavan Gael (FR) 13-8fav In touch, ridden over 1f out, kept on to go 2nd inside final furlong, no impression on winner, 2nd of 12, 1 1/2l behind Play The Ball at W'hampton 7f 2yo mdn (D3) pol in Dec.
Chairman Rick (IRE) 25-1 Mid-division, pushed along halfway, one pace final 2f, 7th of 19, 7l behind Kingsgate Bay at Carlisle 6f 2yo hcp 0-75 (E3) gd in Sept.
Cream of Esteem 100-1 Dwelt and behind, soon pushed along, never near to challenge, 13th of 21, 9l behind Bow Wave at Doncaster 6f 2yo mdn (D3) gs in Nov.
Dabbers Ridge (IRE) 33-1 Pushed along in mid-division, ridden over 1f out, one pace final furlong, 7th of 21, 4 1/2l behind Bow Wave at Doncaster 6f 2yo mdn (D3) gs in Nov.
Fantasy Feeling Easycall gelding, half-brother to 7f-1m winner Tee Jay Kassidy.
King Forever 8-1 Went left start, keen and held up, edged left and short of room over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong, 6th of 15, 6l behind Belenus at Newmarket 7f 2yo mdn (D) gf in Jul.
Museeb (USA) 3-1fav Mid-division, headway 2f out, went 2nd 1f out, kept on but no chance with winner, 2nd of 16, 2l behind Esquire at Newbury 7f 2yo mdn (D2) gd in Sept.
Orion Bell 4-1 Towards rear, outpaced 4f out, soon lost place and well behind 3f out, last of 12, 34l behind Yo Pedro at Lingfield 1m mdn stk (D3) pol in Jan.
Stanley Arthur 66-1 Slowly into stride, always behind, last of 13, 33l behind Real Quality at Newcastle 7f 2yo mdn aut (E3) gd in Oct.
Azeezah 66-1 Chase leader until 3f out, soon weakened, 8th of 10, 20l behind Self Respect at W'hampton 1m 1f 3yo mdn (D3) pol in Jan.
C'Est La Vie Bering filly, half-sister to 1m4f winner Acke.
