towards rear, pushed along over 5f out, weakened over 2f out
mid-division in 4th, headway over 2f out, chased winner final furlong, kept on and held towards finish
tracked leader, pushed along over 3f out, ridden 2f out, weakened over 1f out
held up in rear, pushed along over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, soon weakened
tracked leaders in 3rd, chased winner over 3f out until ridden 1f out, no extra towards finish
made all, clear 4f out, ridden over 1f out, soon pressed, found extra towards finish
Last year's winner Main Sequence went on to finish runner-up in the Derby and if there's one in today's field with the potential to reach those heights it's HILLSTAR. Sir Michael Stoute's colt won a maiden at Leicester in October and a string of fancy entries that include the Dante Stakes and the Derby itself suggest there's much more to come this year. Mystery Bet and Soviet Rock are both York maiden winners and the latter's stablemate Van Percy got off the mark at Carlisle in good style. Glenard and Master Wing were beaten in tough races last time and it's too soon to write them off but Heading North is more exposed and will need to improve to figure.
Master Ming (IRE) 11-2 (9-3) Raced centre led this trio, overall leader until over 3f out, headed over 2f out, ridden to lead centre group again and chased winner over 1f out until inside final furlong, kept on one pace, 3rd of 5, 4l behind Hoarding (9-1) at Newmarket 1m 2yo stks (2) sft in Oct.
Hillstar 2-1fav (9-0) Keen early tracked leader, pushed along 2f out, stayed on to lead towards finish, won at Leicester 7f 2yo mdn (4) sft in Oct beating Flashlight (9-0) by 3/4l, 12 ran.
Mystery Bet (IRE) 5-2 (8-12) Took keen hold, held up in touch, ridden over 2f out, went 2nd entering final furlong, led final 100 yards, kept on, won at York 7f 2yo mdn (3) sft in Oct beating Lancelot Du Lac (9-3) by 2l, 7 ran.
Van Percy 7-4fav (9-3) Led after 1f, pushed along and headed over 3f out, ridden to lead again over 1f out, stayed on, won at Carlisle 1m 2yo mdn (5) hvy in Sep beating Ready (9-3) by 4l, 10 ran.
Glenard 20-1 (9-0) Always in rear, 10th of 11, 19l behind Trading Leather (9-0) at Newmarket 1m 2yo Grp 3 (1) gs in Oct.
Heading North 10-11fav (9-0) Mid-division, headway over 2f out, driven to challenge over 1f out, ran on to lead inside final furlong, ridden out, won at Chepstow 7f 2yo stks (5) gd in Sep beating Lady Pimpernel (9-0) by 2 1/4l, 14 ran.
Soviet Rock (IRE) 9-2 (9-3) Led, came towards stand side 3f out, edged right to stand side rail 2f out, ridden and headed narrowly inside final furlong, rallied to regain lead final 50 yards, edged left, kept on, won at York 1m 2yo mdn aut (4) hvy in Oct beating Esteaming (9-3) by 1 1/4l, 7 ran.
