raced centre, chased winner until came stands side rail 3f out, soon ridden, weakened over 1f out
raced centre, tracked leaders, chased winner over 2f out, soon every chance, edged left towards stands side rail over 1f out, unable to quicken inside final furlong
raced centre, held up mid-division, ridden and weakened 2f out
raced centre, tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, edged left towards stand side rail over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
raced centre, slowly into stride, always in rear
raced centre, made all, ridden 2f out, edged towards stand side soon after, driven and stayed on gamely
raced centre, slowly into stride, always in rear
raced centre close up, ridden and weakened over 1f out
raced centre, keen, held up in rear, headway approaching 2f out, ridden and not clear run over 1f out, switched right and kept on to go 4th inside final furlong
raced centre, tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, chased leading pair and edged left over 1f out, stayed on final furlong
The presence of the big three: Halfway To Heaven, Listen and Darjina make this an interesting tussle and we will side with HALFWAY TO HEAVEN. It will be a surprise if the Great Ballydoyle Group One Hunt doesn't extend this weekend as they have a strong hand here. Listen made a pleasing comeback in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown after a year off and must be considered but jockey bookings point to Halfway To Heaven as the main hope. The Irish 1000 Guineas and Nassau Stakes winner, she finished in front of her stablemate at Leopardstown and should take this race on ground that is ideal. Spacious is an interesting filly; she beat little of note on her recent outing after a break but the ground was against her and she remains a filly of some potential. Heaven Sent is just below this highest level it seems, so of more interest may be the consistent Darjina. On a weekend where she may have found a suitable race at Longchamp, her trainer sends her across here and she is unlikely to be out of the first three. The others are nice fillies in any other race but here they may just struggle and so we will return to Halfway To Heaven to take us all the way there.
Barshiba (IRE) 7-2fav (9-0) Held up mid-division, raced very keenly, outpaced 2f out, ran on final furlong, 4th of 12, 3l behind Shabiba (8-8) at Sandown 1m 3yo lst fll (1) gd in Aug.
Darjina (FR) 8-1 (8-13) Prominent, effort 2f out, kept on under pressure, 2nd of 11, 1/2l behind Goldikova (8-8) at Longchamp 1m Grp 1 (1) hvy in Sept.
Harvest Queen (IRE) 16-1 (8-12) Mid-division, headway 2f out, soon ridden, weakened quickly over 1f out, 10th of 13, 14l behind Sabana Perdida (8-12) at Ascot 1m fll stk Grp 2 (1) gf in Jun.
Heaven Sent 15-2 (9-5) Held up, headway over 2f out, soon ridden, stayed on final furlong, closing at finish, 4th of 9, 1/2l behind Halfway To Heaven (8-10) at Goodwood 1m 2f fll stks Grp 1 (1) gf in Aug.
Festoso (IRE) 8-1 (8-10) Reared start, headway to track leaders halfway, stayed on well inside final furlong, 3rd of 12, 1l behind Royal Confidence (8-10) at Doncaster 7f lst stk (1) sft in Sept.
Halfway To Heaven (IRE) 4-1 (8-12) Tracked leaders in 3rd, ridden early straight, close 2nd and challenged well inside final furlong, no extra close home, 3rd of 10, 3/4l behind Lush Lashes (8-12) at Leopardstown 1m fll stks Grp 1 gs in Sept.
Listen (IRE) 8-1 (8-12) Held up towards rear, 6th and headway on outer early straight, 4th over 1f out, kept on same pace, 5th of 10, 2 1/2l behind Lush Lashes (8-12) at Leopardstown 1m fll stks Grp 1 gs in Sept.
Nahoodh (IRE) 6-1 (8-12) Tracked leaders in 6th, 5th and progress early straight, 3rd on inner under 1f out, soon challenged, every chance close home, just failed, 2nd of 10, nk behind Lush Lashes (8-12) at Leopardstown 1m fll stks Grp 1 gs in Sept.
Spacious 8-11fav (8-6) Held up in touch, headway over 1f out, ridden to lead narrowly inside final furlong, just held on, won at Doncaster 1m 3yo stk (2) sft in Sept beating Moyenne Corniche (9-0) by a ns, 4 ran.
Visit 2-1fav (8-9) Mid-division, headway over 2f out, led over 1f out, soon ridden, kept on, driven out, won at Goodwood 7f fll stk Grp 3 (1) gf in Aug beating Cheyenne Star (9-4) by a hd, 14 ran.
Eva's Request (IRE) 12-1 (9-6) Mid-division, headway approaching 2f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on, won at Ascot 1m lst fll hcp (1) gd in Sept beating Mekong Melody (8-3) by 1l, 17 ran.
