held up, ridden 3f out, headway and short of room over 1f out, weakened and eased inside final furlong
held up, headway 3f out, weakened over 1f out
prominent, ridden and lead over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, edged left, no extra
keen, hampered over 6f out and lost place, held up, headway over 2f out, not clear run over 1f out, eased final furlong
close up, ridden halfway, every chance 2f out, weakening when not much room inside final furlong
slowly into stride, held up, headway 3f out, soon ridden and weakened
pulled hard, held up, switched right and headway 2f out, kept on same pace
keen, tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, not clear run and lost place over 1f out, switched right and ran on inside final furlong
with leader, ridden and every chance 2f out, weakening when hampered inside final furlong
held up in touch, ridden halfway, headway over 1f out, ran on final furlong
held up in touch, ridden over 1f out, ran on and led inside final furlong
held up, never troubled leaders
led, ridden and headed over 1f out, still every chance 1f out, weakened well inside final furlong
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, kept on one pace
mid division, ridden halfway, soon weakened
towards rear, ridden and headway and not clear run over 1f out, stayed on final furlong, never nearer
always prominent, ridden and led briefly inside final furlong, no extra near finish
held up in touch, ridden and headway over 1f out, not clear run, switched right and ran on final furlong
Hold That Tiger is taken to add to Aidan O'Brien's already long list of Group 1 wins in the first classic of 2003, with Refuse To Bend, Lateen Sails and Hurricane Alan set to fight out the places. The Storm Cat colt showed a hugely impressive turn of foot on his last two starts of his two-year-old campaign, first of all when landing the Grand Criterium at Longchamp in October and then when overcoming a diabolically bad start to finish third in the Breeders Cup Juvenile in America. The only blot on Hold That Tiger's copybook came when he was well beaten in the Phoenix Stakes in August, but he was found, like many from the stable at the time, to be coughing afterwards and that run is easily forgiven. There is little doubt that he will be finely tuned for his reappearance and, able to handle any ground, he cannot be opposed. There could easily be an Irish 1-2 here, as Refuse To Bend is fancied to chase him home. Dermot Weld's colt, by Sadlers Wells, had some very smart juvenile form and proved his well-being by landing the Guineas trial at Leopardstown on his reappearance. He will probably be more effective over the Derby trip, and is a leading contender for that particular race, but is still good enough to claim prize money here. Lateen Sails represents racing's other great power, Godolphin, and has fared well over in Dubai. Trained by Henry Cecil last year, he showed a smart turn of foot to win his maiden over course and distance and is very much the dark horse on this race. Of the rest, Hurricane Alan showed a fine turn of foot in landing the Craven Stakes here last month. While the form of that is questionable, it was still a fine performance and he looks more likely to play a part in the finish than Muqbil, who won the Greenham Stakes on his reappearance but John Dunlop's colt will find this race an entirely different prospect and is untried on this yielding surface. Tout Seul's Dewhurst form has taken several knocks already this season, and Fulke Johnson Houghton's charge may struggle to add to that Group 1 success this year.
