keen, held up, progress to go in touch halfway, ridden 3f out, weakened 2f out
held up in rear, driven over 2f out, kept on, never nearer
made all, ridden over 1f out, stayed on final furlong
tracked leader, ridden over 3f out, weakened 2f out
held up mid-division, headway on inside from over 2f out, ridden to press winner over 1f out until no extra towards finish
raced wide, in touch, weakened over 3f out
held up in rear, headway to go in touch 3f out, ridden 2f out, stayed on to take 2nd under strong pressure towards finish
tracked leaders, ridden to chase winner well over 2f out until over 1f out, kept on one pace final furlong
Only the eight runners but a very competitive looking affair and perhaps MOOAKADA can improve enough to take it ahead of Les Fazzani and the consistent Pachattack. John Gosden's three-year-old has just a maiden victory to her name but has twice gone close to adding to that tally in similar company. With today's step up to 1m4f to suit this daughter of Montjeu and having had just the seven career starts we'll give her the chance to show that a listed prize is well within her compass, as had looked likely after that taking debut success last October. Les Fazzani has plenty of form at this trip and is two from four on the all-weather so is a very serious contender for top honours here. The mare was slightly unlucky when taking fourth in a listed race at Doncaster last time, an effort that looks all the more respectable given that the trip of 1m2f was probably sharp enough and back over further here today she must have a chance of adding to her healthy strike rate for Kevin Ryan and Jamie Spencer. Pachattack steps up in trip having narrowly failed to land a similar contest at Newmarket in October over shorter than this and took second again last time out when no match for the impressive Anmar. Both of those efforts suggested today's trip would be more to the filly's liking and in receipt of weight from all bar the selection Richard Hughes' mount is a contender although the feeling is she lacks the class required to bring home first prize and as such a supporting role may be her greatest hope. Hebridean wasn't beaten far trying to give weight to subsequent Breeders' Cup hero Conduit last season before showing very smart form as a hurdler when trained by Paul Nicholl's. Now with Luca Cumani after a summer break the gelding can be expected to have drawn some improvement from his two starts at Newmarket and may well be nearing peak form which would put Kieren Fallon's mount bang in the picture. Of the rest both Saphira's Fire and Princess Taylor are solid performers for the grade without holding compelling claims and so for the winner we return to the unexposed profile of Mooakada.
Hebridean (IRE) 18-1 (9-3) Held up in 4th, raced keenly, improved over 3f out, edged right when beaten over 1f out, 4th of 6, 6l behind Laaheb (8-12) at Newmarket 1m 2f Listed stks (1) gd in Oct.
Dakiyah (IRE) 10-3 (9-5) Tracked winner to 10f out, stayed 3rd, driven along and one pace when hampered on rail inside final 2f, weakened soon after, last of 6, 8l behind Callisto Moon (9-1) at Sandown 1m 6f hcp 0-85 (4) gf in Jul.
Les Fazzani (IRE) 2-1fav (9-0) Held up mid-division, headway over 2f out, soon switched right, kept on over 1f out, 4th of 19, 2 1/2l behind Queen Of Pentacles (8-10) at Doncaster 1m 2f fll lst stks (1) sft.
Princess Taylor 11-1 (9-2) Tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, soon one pace, 4th of 12, 8l behind Baila Me (9-2) at Lingfield 1m 5f flls lst stks (1) pol in Oct.
Saphira's Fire (IRE) 4-1 (8-12) Held up in 5th, raced keenly, headway under pressure over 2f out, stayed on final furlong but not pace to trouble front pair, 3rd of 6, 1 3/4l behind Laaheb (8-12) at Newmarket 1m 2f Listed stks (1) gd in Oct.
Jonnie Skull (IRE) 12-1 (9-1) Soon prominent, weakened well over 1f out, 10th of 11, 10l behind Istiqdaam (8-12) at Kempton 7f hcp (0-65) (6) pol.
Mooakada (IRE) 20-1 (8-10) Held up towards rear, headway on outer over 2f out, every chance final furlong, stayed on inside final furlong, 2nd of 19, 1 3/4l behind Queen Of Pentacles (8-10) at Doncaster 1m 2f fll lst stks (1) sft.
Pachattack (USA) 5-2 (8-4) Tracked leader, badly hampered just inside final 2f, lost momentum, rallied and kept on into 2nd final 100 yards, no chance with winner but unable to recover, 2nd of 8, 5l behind Anmar (8-9) at Kempton 1m 2f stks (3) pol.
