raced keenly, led 1f, tracked leader, going well 3f out, soon pushed along, lost 2nd 2f out, weakened soon after
held up last, headway out wide over 1f out, soon shaken up and hung right, went 2nd inside final furlong, no chance with winner
bit keen, tracked leading pair, went 2nd going well 2f out, soon slightly hampered, led over 1f out, stayed on strongly
stumbled badly leaving stalls, led after 1f, ridden and hung left inside final 2f, headed over 1f out, no chance with winner when dropped to 3rd inside final furlong
The winner of a Grade 1 in Canada and successful at a higher level than this in this country, Desert Encounter ran his best race for a long time in the Group 3 Gordon Richards at Sandown last month. Stormy Antarctic is the only one of these to have won on soft going and he is still very capable on his day, though is arguably better over shorter trips. Majestic Dawn won the Cambridgeshire in October and has been quite lightly raced but AL ZARAQAAN didn’t get any cover and was subsequently too keen when disappointing in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket and warrants another chance. Winter Reprise is facing a very stiff task against these off level weights.
Al Zaraqaan 7-2 (9-1) Keen close up in rear, wide and effort over 2f out, no impression from over 1f out, 4th of 5, 7 3/4l behind Sir Ron Priestley (9-1) at Newmarket 1m 4f Grp 2 stks (1) gf in May.
Desert Encounter (IRE) 40-1 (9-0) Steadied start, held up in rear, gained a place 6f out, headway between horses over 2f out, soon hung right, went 2nd inside final furlong, stayed on same pace, no chance with winner, 2nd of 7, 1 1/4l behind Waldkonig (9-0) at Sandown 1m 2f Grp 3 stks (1) gd in Apr.
Stormy Antarctic 6-1 (9-5) Wore hood to post, headway to lead 6f out, went clear 5f out, kept out wide from halfway, went to far side over 2f out, looked to be in command when ridden and wandered over 1f out, in 2nd place and no chance with winner inside final furlong, 2nd of 6, 2 1/2l behind Solid Stone (9-5) at Windsor 1m lst stks (1) gs in May.
Winter Reprise (FR) 80-1 (9-0) Held up in last trio until dropped to last 6f out, pushed along and struggling to quicken 3f out, some late minor headway, never going pace to get involved, 5th of 7, 7 1/2l behind Waldkonig (9-0) at Sandown 1m 2f Grp 3 stks (1) gd in Apr.
Majestic Dawn (IRE) 40-1 (8-8) Prominent, led stand side group and overall leader over 5f out, ridden clear over 1f out, ran on, won at Newmarket 1m 1f hcp (2) gd in Sep beating Lucander (8-7) by 4 3/4l, 27 ran.
