held up, headway 4f out, swiched left 2f out, soon ridden, stayed on well inside final furlong, hung right, led final strides
chased leader, ridden over 4f out, one pace final 2f
chased leaders, lost place 4f out, soon well behind
led, hard ridden 2f out, stayed on, no extra when caught final strides
held up, behind ridden over 3f out, kept on same pace final 2f
held up, headway 5f out, ridden and every chance 2f out, 3rd and held when not much room close home
In the finale, Ebtikraar gets the call ahead of Tender Falcon and Michabo. Despite having been beaten as favourite on his Newmarket return, Ebtikaar should be spot on now for this event and gets a solid call in the finale, having looked progressive last season. Baddam flopped from his revised mark on his last two starts last year, so the jury is out now, while Tender Falcon certainly stayed on at the finish at Epsom last time and could yet go well today. Brads House might need the run; Michabo has a five-pounds ratings rise to contend with from his Sandown Turf win; but the others are a little hard to build strong cases for, although Tudor Bell, who has not been seen on the track for 444 days, is actually racing from a winning mark. All of which returns us to the selection, Ebtikraar, and it will be disappointing if he is unable to run a a big race.
Ebtikaar (IRE) 6-1fav (9-2) Held up, headway over 1f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, 4th of 16, 3 1/2l behind Mikao (8-3) at Newmarket 1m 4f hcp 0-95 (3) gd in Apr.
Baddam 16-1 (9-1) Held up in touch, ridden and weakened over 3f out, 15th of 16, 19l behind Mikao (8-3) at Newmarket 1m 4f hcp 0-95 (3) gd in Apr.
Tender Falcon 5-1 (9-0) In touch, ridden 2f out, no impression, 4th of 7, 8l behind Vengeance (9-3) at Epsom 1m 4f hcap (3) gd in Apr.
Michabo (IRE) 9-1 (8-8) Took keen hold, led, ridden and headed over 1f out, soon weakened, 8th of 11, 11l behind Cold Turkey (9-3) at Kempton 2m hcp 0-105 (2) pol in Apr.
Ocean of Storms (IRE) 33-1 (9-6) Virtually refused to race, last of 8, well behind Out For A Stroll (8-8) at Salisbury 1m app hcp (5) gs in Aug.
Croon 7-1 (8-8) Soon led, pushed along 4f out, headed over 1f out, kept on one pace, 5th of 12, 3 1/2l behind Stargazer Jim (8-9) at Lingfield 1m 2f app hcp (5) pol in Nov.
Brads House (IRE) 14-1 (9-1) Chased leader and raced wide until joined main group over 4f out, one pace, 3rd of 13, 20l behind Toldo (8-10) at Doncaster 1m 7f hcp 0-85 (4) sft in Oct.
Akritas 16-1 (9-11) Soon led, ridden and headed over 3f out, weakened rapidly over 2f out, soon tailed off, 13th of 14, well behind Velvet Heights (9-2) at Kempton 2m hcap (4) pol in Apr.
Tudor Bell (IRE) 66-1 (8-7) Led, ridden and headed 3f out, soon weakened, 5th of 6, 31l behind Alcazar (9-6) at Musselburgh 2m lst stk (A1) gs in Nov '04.
