led or disputed lead, ran freely, headed entering straight, soon no extra and eased from 1 1/2f out
held up in rear, pushed along and closer approaching straight, good headway early straight and led 1 1/2f out, soon asserted and drew clear inside final furlong, stayed on well
chased leaders, 3rd halfway, closer approaching straight, ridden under 2f out and no impression over 1f out, kept on one pace
prominent and disputed lead, led entering straight, pushed along and headed 1 1/2f out, soon no impression on winner, kept on one pace final furlong
broke well, chased leaders and 4th halfway, closer approaching straight, pushed along and no impression 1 1/2f out, no extra
ran 5th, closer approaching straight, pushed along on outer 2f out and soon no extra, weakened
With half of the six entries, Aidan O'Brien makes a bold bid to win a race in which he's saddled the likes of Galileo, High Chaparral and Yeats to success. BROOME looks the stable pick after his neck defeat by Royal Marine in a Group 1 at Longchamp in October and he had Sydney Opera House over 3l behind when runner-up to Madhmoon in a Group 2 here earlier. Sovereign makes up the Coolmore entries and though his overall form doesn't match that of his stable companions he was also much more likely to do better as a three-year-old. He finished just over 2l behind Guaranteed in a Group 3 here in October for which Jim Bolger's colt picks up a penalty. Tankerville was odds-on for his debut at Gowran and had no problems obliging and his stable can do no wrong while Pythion dead-heated on his debut here in July but finished behind fourth-placed Sovereign in a Naas Group 3 later.
Guaranteed (IRE) 9-2 (9-3) Soon chased leader in 2nd, pushed along over 2f out and soon ridden, improved to challenge over 1f out and led inside final 200 yards, kept on well closing stages, won at Leopardstown 1m 1f Grp 3 stks (1) gd in Oct beating Masaff (9-3) by 1/2l, 8 ran.
Broome (IRE) (8-13) 2nd of 6, nk behind Royal Marine (8-13) at Longchamp 1m Grp 1 gs in Oct.
Pythion (FR) 8-1 (9-3) Always towards rear, pushed along entering straight, ridden and no impression on outer under 2f out, kept on one pace inside final furlong, 6th of 7, 4 3/4l behind Japan (9-3) at Naas 1m Grp 2 stks (1) gd in Sep.
Sovereign (IRE) 3-1 (9-3) Soon led, pushed along over 2f out and pressed over 1f out, ridden and headed inside final 200 yards, no extra and dropped to 3rd close home, 3rd of 8, 2 1/4l behind Guaranteed (9-3) at Leopardstown 1m 1f Grp 3 stks (1) gd in Oct.
Sydney Opera House (8-13) 2nd of 10, nk behind Wonderment (8-10) at Saint-Cloud 1m 2f Grp 1 stks gs in Oct.
Tankerville (USA) 4-5fav (9-5) Chased leaders, 4th halfway, switched out to progress 2f out, ridden to challenge 1 1/2f out, led 1f out, kept on strongly to assert inside final furlong, won at Gowran Park 1m mdn Yielding in Oct beating Killourney (9-5) by 2 1/4l, 16 ran.
