held up, switched right 2f out, ridden and headway approaching final furlong, stayed on to take 3rd inside final furlong
raced wide mid-division, effort over 2f out, weakened over 1f out
raced wide, in touch, ridden to go 3rd over 3f out, weakened final furlong
dwelt, always in rear
tracked leader 3f, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 1f out
keen, held up, lost place and dropped to rear 4f out, not clear run over 2f out, soon switched right, ridden and no impression
steadied start, close up, chased leaders 7f out, led 3f out, pushed clear over 1f out, ran on impressive
held up towards rear, pushed along 3f out, ridden and headway to go 3rd over 1f out, kept on same place final furlong
keen early, tracked leaders, ridden and weakened 2f out
mid-division, headway when switched right 2f out, chased winner over 1f out, kept on, no chance with winner
led, ridden and headed 3f out, weakened over 1f out
There has to be some mileage in opposing New Approach, and RUSSIAN CROSS appeals as the best alternative with City Leader perhaps the best that the home team has to offer. New Approach suffered with muscle soreness following his Epsom Derby triumph and wasn't at his best when going down to Duke Of Marmalade in the Juddmonte International. His old traits resurfaced there as he refused to settle and could only stay on at one pace under pressure in the closing stages. There was little to get excited about his half-length defeat of the 50-1 outsider Traffic Guard in the Irish Champion Stakes and this talented individual has some work to do to in order to maintain his reputation. This may lack strength in depth though with Pipedreamer yet to prove that he's up to winning at this level and with Traffic Guard and Staying On lacking the requisite class. Linngari may well attract support and it would be easy to see why but this is stronger than the Group 1 he took in Munich in July. City Leader's form ties in with that of Twice Over and Russian Cross as he has chased those two home on two of his last three starts. He has since run another fine race over a trip that stretched his stamina and he has place prospects here. Twice Over finished behind both City Leader and Russian Cross at Deauville but interference meant that he wasn't able to give his true running. It's a little disappointing that Russian Cross couldn't win a Longchamp Group 3 last time but the winner was completing a hat-trick and the first two pulled a long way clear of the remainder. Conditions look ideal for the Cape Cross colt and his trainer certainly knows what's required to win the top races in this country. Of the remainder, French Derby second Famous Name has a fair bit to prove following two subsequent defeats whilst Hebridean has plenty to find on the figures. New Approach heads those but it's worth taking a chance that he'll underperform and that Russian Cross can complete a hat-trick in this race for the French.
Linngari (IRE) (9-6) Held up, good headway straight, finished well, 2nd of 10, 1 1/2l behind Pressing (9-6) at Veliefendi 1m Grp 2 (1) std in Sept.
Pipedreamer 14-1 (9-5) Held up towards rear, headway when not clear run over 3f out, headway to challenge over 1f out, hard ridden and no extra final furlong, 4th of 9, 4 1/2l behind Duke Of Marmalade (9-5) at Newmarket 1m 2f Grp 1 (1) gf in Aug.
Traffic Guard (USA) 50-1 (9-7) Tracked leaders, 5th 3f out, ridden straight, 2nd inside final furlong, stayed on well close home, 2nd of 8, 1/2l behind New Approach (9-0) at Leopardstown 1m 2f 1000 gns gs in Sept.
City Leader (IRE) (9-2) Always in touch, kept on, 4th of 7, 1 1/2l behind Vision D'etat (9-2) at Longchamp 1m 4f Grp 2 (1) gd in Sept.
Full Of Gold (FR) (9-0) Prominent, led over 2f out, soon headed, kept on, 2nd of 8, 3/4l behind Pallodio (8-8) at Maisons-Laffitte 1m 2f Grp 3 (1) gs in Sept.
Hebridean (IRE) 5-1 (9-3) Chased leaders on rail, driven 2f out, 3rd and no impression on front pair, eased inside final furlong, 3rd of 6, 1 1/2l behind Conduit (9-0) at Goodwood 1m 4f 3yo Grp 3 (1) gd in Jul.
New Approach (IRE) 8-13fav (9-0) Raced keenly early, settled 2nd, ridden to lead entering straight, kept on well under pressure final furlong, won at Leopardstown 1m 2f 1000 gns gs in Sept beating Traffic Guard (9-7) by 1/2l, 8 ran.
Russian Cross (IRE) 11-2 (9-2) Prominent, led over 1f out, kept on when headed, 2nd of 8, nk behind Never On Sunday (8-11) at Longchamp 1m 2f Grp 3 (1) gd in Sept.
Staying On (IRE) 14-1 (8-11) Stumbled start, soon prominent, ridden over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 8th of 15, 6l behind Eagle Mountain (9-0) at Newmarket 1m Grp 3 (1) gf.
Twice Over (9-2) In touch when badly hampered straight, no chance after, 7th of 8, 8l behind Russian Cross (8-11) at Deauville 1m 2f Grp 2 (1) gd in Aug.
Upton Grey (IRE) 15-2 (8-10) Soon led, ridden and headed over 1f out, no extra towards finish, 2nd of 9, 2l behind Albaqaa (8-5) at Chester 1m 2f 3yo hcp (2) gf in Sept.
