held up in touch in chasing group, headway approaching 3 out, soon pushed along and no impression
tracked clear leader and led chasing group, hard driven after 3 out, hung left and weakened before next
tracked leaders in chasing group, under pressure 3 out, soon weakened
led, set strong pace and soon 6 lengths clear, drew further 15 lengths clear before 4 out, mistake next, not fluent when headed last, kept on
held up in touch in chasing group, not fluent 3rd, slow next, headway 3 out, no impression
held up off the pace in chasing group, took keen hold, weakened 3 out
held up in rear of chasing group, headway after 3 out, chased leader next, led last, ran on well
Paul Nicholls has saddled two of the last five winners. He had previous winners Adrien Du Pont and Frodon left in at the four-day stage but instead relies on newcomers PILANSBERG and Zubayr, who could both turn out to be useful recruits. The former won over 2m on the Flat so his stamina is assured. He finished ahead of another debutant, Khezerabad, when third in a Listed race at Deauville in August and had beaten Wolfcatcher earlier at Maisons-Lafitte. Gibralfaro and St Saviour are both defending unbeaten records after two starts and are worth a try at this higher level but they might struggle to give the weight away.
Gibralfaro (IRE) 4-5fav (11-4) Made all, pressed from 4 out, driven when challenged before last, stayed on gamely, won at Ascot 2m (3) sft in Jan beating Connetable (11-4) by 1 3/4l, 5 ran.
St Saviour 4-6fav (11-5) Raced keenly, tracked leader and clear of rest until after 4th, led next, blundered 3 out, ridden clear flat, kept on, won at Ludlow 2m (4) sft in Feb beating Berland (11-5) by 2 1/4l, 6 ran.
Wolfcatcher (IRE) 4-5fav (11-5) Chased leaders, led approaching 2 out, strongly challenged when mistake last, all out, headed post, 2nd of 5, shd behind Kasakh Noir (11-5) at Market Rasen 2m 1f (4) hvy in Feb.
Azzuri 20-1 (10-7) Held up in rear, not fluent 4th, outpaced after 6th, well held 3 out, 5th of 8, 24 3/4l behind Charbel (11-11) at Musselburgh 2m (2) gs in Feb.
Khezerabad (FR) 5-1 (8-11) 6th of 7, 8 1/4l behind Big Blue (8-11) at Deauville 1m 7f lst stks (1) sft in Aug.
Pilansberg 33-1 (8-9) last of 13, 20 1/2l behind Vazirabad (8-10) at Saint-Cloud 1m 7f Grp 1 stks sft in Oct.
Zubayr (IRE) 11-4 (9-2) 4th of 9, 2 1/4l behind Harlem (9-2) at Longchamp 1m 4f stks gs in Jun.
