held up in touch, ridden and weakened well over 1f out
dwelt, soon prominent, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed and weakened inside final furlong
slowly into stride, held up in rear, headway on outside over 2f out, ridden and stayed on same pace final furlong
led 2f, remained prominent, ridden and unable to quicken final furlong
headway to lead after 2f, ridden and headed over 2f out, one pace
held up, headway 2f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on
raced wide, held up, headway to go 2nd over 6f out, ridden to lead over 2f out, headed well over 1f out, soon weakened
in rear, ran on final furlong, took 2nd post
No Derby entries, in fact no three-year-olds in the line-up here, but African Dream looks best of these at the weights and we take him to score from Grand Passion, Red Spell and Counsel's Opinion. The Jeremy Noseda-trained selection has not been seen out since running down the field in the Group 3 Earl Of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket last April, and hopefully he is fully recovered from whatever caused his enforced absence. He has won off marks higher than this in the past, gets this trip well and acts at the track, so we will take him to be too good. Grand Passion has plenty in hand on one of today's opponents Compton Bolter based on his defeat of that rival in November 2004 over c&d and can confirm that while pushing the selection close. Red Spell has not been far away twice recently and a reproduction of his latest c&d run would give him claims here, while Counsel's Opinion is another c&d winner who loves track and trip and is weighted to get heavily involved here, so cannot be ruled out. However, provided he is straight enough, African Dream can resume winning ways here.
Compton Bolter (IRE) 9-4fav (9-12) Led, headed over 1f out, kept on well under pressure, 2nd of 8, hd behind Cold Turkey (8-10) at W'hampton 1m 4f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Dec.
Kew Green (USA) 9-1 (9-0) In touch, chased leader over 1f out, driven final furlong, stayed on to lead towards finish, won at Lingfield 1m 2f lst stk (1) pol in Nov beating Boule d'Or (9-0) by a hd, 14 ran.
Counsel's Opinion (IRE) 50-1 (9-8) Switched to far side, always towards rear, never dangerous, 14th of 30, 15l behind Blue Monday (9-3) at Newmarket 1m 1f hcp (2) sft in Oct.
African Dream 16-1 (8-10) In touch, ridden and weakened over 1f out, 8th of 10, 11l behind Norse Dancer (8-13) at Newmarket 1m 1f Grp 3 (1) gf in Apr.
Crow Wood 10-1 (9-7) Mid-division, ridden and weakened over 3f out, 11th of 16, 7l behind Balkan Knight (9-9) at Haydock 1m 6f hcp 0-105 (2) gd in Sept.
Grand Passion (IRE) 11-2 (9-11) Held up in touch, headway over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, soon beaten, 6th of 9, 6l behind Cimyla (9-11) at W'hampton 1m 1f Cond Stakes (2) pol in Jan.
Polygonal (FR) 5-1 (8-13) Held up, improved over 2f out, going well when not clear run over 1f out, switched right, ran on to snatch 3rd at post, 3rd of 9, 3l behind Sri Diamond (9-4) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp 0-100 (2) pol.
Red Spell (IRE) 7-4fav (9-5) Held up in touch, effort on inside to chase winner over 1f out, unable to quicken inside final furlong, 2nd of 9, 1 1/2l behind Arturius (8-5) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-100 (2) pol.
