Horses from Scandanavia have rarely done well here in the past so Pistol is best watched despite having strong form in Sweden while Korean form is rare here so Diferent Dimension and Power Blade are also virtually unknown. North America showed a bit of promise for Godolphin though they couldn't have envisaged his incredible progress since arriving here. Wide margin victories after making all in handicaps have resulted in a massive 25lb rise in the weights but it's difficult to know how far he can go. Heavy Metal has been going well though he never threatened behind Desert Force last month but First Selection is a worthy top weight having raced exclusively at Group level since landing the Solario at Sandown in 2015. Need To Know beat Heavy Metal here in November and hasn't performed badly at Listed level subsequently while Bluff was rewarded for consistency when getting up close home over 1m2f at Jebel Ali. SHARPALO has been busy over the past few weeks and won at Jebel Ali in November. He was a bit outclassed here last week behind Mizbah but will be suited by the likely strong pace set by North America and can reward each-way punters.
First Selection (SPA) 25-1 (9-1) Steadied start, raced stands side, pulled hard, held up, weakened over 1f out, last of 12, 12 1/2l behind Aclaim (9-1) at Newmarket 7f Grp 2 stks (1) gf in Oct.
Need To Know (SAF) (9-0) 7th of 12, 8 1/4l behind Light The Lights (9-0) at Meydan 1m 1f lst stks gf in Jan.
Wildcat Red (USA) 33-10 (8-9) Pressured pace,weakend, 7th of 8, 18 1/2l behind Tommy Macho (8-11) at Gulfstream 1m stks fst in Feb.
North America (9-3) won at Meydan 1m hcp fst in Dec beating Muhtaram (9-4) by 8 3/4l, 12 ran.
Power Blade (QA) (8-9) 3rd of 16, 6 1/4l behind Clean Up Joy (8-13) at Seoul 1m 3f Grp 1 (1) fst in Dec.
Bluff (USA) (9-6) won at Jebel Ali 1m 2f hcp fst in Dec beating Insaany (9-4) by 2 1/4l, 11 ran.
Diferent Dimension (USA) (9-2) 3rd of 1, shd behind at Busan 7f hcp pol in Nov.
Heavy Metal (9-5) 2nd of 10, 7 3/4l behind Desert Force (9-4) at Meydan 7f hcp fst in Dec.
Redbrook (IRE) (8-8) 10th of 0, 8 1/2l behind American Hope (8-10) at Meydan 7f hcp gf in Mar.
Sea of Flames 14-1 (9-1) In rear, ridden 2f out, kept on final furlong, not trouble leaders, 6th of 12, 4 1/2l behind My Target (8-5) at Lingfield 1m hcp (2) pol in Nov.
Bear Faced 25-1 (9-0) Tracked leaders, under pressure over 2f out, soon lost place, 7th of 8, 8 1/4l behind Smuggler's Moon (9-0) at Epsom 7f lst stks (1) gs in Jun.
Pistol (SWE) (9-4) won at Bro Park 1m 4f in Oct beating Heman Cross (9-0) by 1 1/2l, 2 ran.
Beach Bar (IRE) 11-2 (9-7) Led, ridden and headed over 4f out, weakened final furlong, 6th of 10, 6 1/4l behind El Vip (8-12) at Leicester 1m hcp (2) gd in Oct.
Pit Stop (IRE) 20-1 (9-2) 10th of 12, 18 1/4l behind Tried And True (8-6) at Meydan 1m 2f hcp fst in Dec.
Sharpalo (FR) (8-5) 5th of 9, 9 3/4l behind Mizbah (8-5) at Meydan 1m 1f hcp fst in Jan.
