close up in rear, smooth headway entering final furlong, shaken to lead inside final furlong, ran on, readily
led, ridden and headed over 1f out, kept on one pace
awkwardly away keen raced wide tracked leaders after 1f, weakened over 1f out
keen pressed leader, led over 1f out, ridden and headed inside final furlong, kept on one pace
The drop back to 5f has proved a good move for Boom The Groom, who won going away at Wolverhampton last time with Sleepy Sioux well beaten. Dungannon is best with some cut in the ground and will find this surface fast enough while Ballista remains without a win this year. Picansort is high enough in the weights on his return to the all-weather and Hopes N Dreams has done all his winning on the Turf so far. That leaves MEDICEAN MAN (NAP), who won twice at Meydan early in the year and been competing in pattern company since. Jeremy Gask's sprinter will be sharper for a recent return from a lay-off and should be good enough in this.
Dungannon 16-1 (9-4) Held up in mid-division on inside, headway 2f out, ridden chasing leaders over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 10th of 12, 4l behind Out Do (9-1) at Kempton 6f hcp (2) pol in Nov.
Sleepy Sioux 10-1 (9-7) Hampered start, towards rear, not clear run over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, stayed on final 100 yards, never dangerous, 7th of 12, 5l behind Boom The Groom (8-12) at Wolverhampton 5f hcp 0-95 (3) in Nov.
Ballista (IRE) 12-1 (9-4) Led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 7th of 12, 3 1/2l behind Foxtrot Romeo (9-4) at Wolverhampton 6f hcp (2) in Nov.
Boom The Groom (IRE) 15-2 (8-12) Always prominent, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on well, won at Wolverhampton 5f hcp 0-95 (3) in Nov beating Smart Daisy K (9-2) by 2l, 12 ran.
Picansort 6-1 (9-11) Chased leaders, ridden and no impression over 1f out, lost modest 4th inside final furlong, 5th of 6, 7l behind Joyous (9-12) at Salisbury 5f hcp 0-65 (6) gf in Jul.
Medicean Man 6-1 (9-3) Mid-division, headway over 1f out, soon ridden, chased leading pair inside final furlong, kept on, held when lost 2 places final stride, 5th of 9, 1 1/2l behind Intransigent (9-5) at Lingfield 6f Listed stks (1) pol in Nov.
Hopes N Dreams (IRE) 25-1 (9-1) Led, ridden and headed over 1f out, faded inside final furlong, 6th of 10, 7l behind Inyordreams (9-0) at Newmarket 6f fll lst stks (1) gd in Oct.