in touch, dropped to rear halfway, headway on inner to track leader 4f out, chased winner over 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, hung right final furlong, headed near finish
raced wide prominent, pushed along halfway, ridden 4f out, driven 3f out, plugged on to go 3rd inside final furlong
tracked leaders, weakened over 3f out, soon eased, pulled up over 2f out
led early, prominent, led over 4f out, ridden and headed over 1f out, rallied to lead again near finish
dwelt in touch, ridden along 7f out, weakened 5f out, eased over 3f out, tailed off
soon led, headed over 4f out, weakened 3f out, tailed off
STAND GUARD bids for his 20th victory on the all-weather after scoring over 1m4f here a fortnight ago. John Butler's charge has given every indication he'll stay this longer trip and he can make the most of today's favourable terms. Kazbow won over track and trip a week ago and will take advantage if the selection runs below par but the other course and distance winner, Captain Bellamy, ended last year badly out of sorts. Omid has scored on this surface but is up against it at the weights as is Esteem.
Stand Guard 8-15fav (9-8) Prominent, tracked leader 8f out, led on bit 2f out, soon clear, comfortably, won at Southwell 1m 4f clm stks (6) fbs beating Activate (9-1) by 10l, 4 ran.
Omid 8-1 (9-12) Led, ridden and headed over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 10th of 12, 30l behind Llamadas (9-5) at Lingfield 2m hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Dec.
Captain Bellamy (USA) 7-1 (9-10) Led narrowly, driven and headed over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 8th of 10, well behind Tijori (8-8) at Newbury 2m app hcp (5) hvy in Oct.
Kazbow (IRE) 4-1 (9-10) Tracked leader, led over 4f out, pushed out, won at Southwell 2m hcp 0-75 (5) fbs beating Tartan Jura (9-12) by 1 3/4l, 5 ran.
Esteem 25-1 (9-7) Held up in touch, ridden 2f out, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong, 3rd of 13, 2 3/4l behind Goldan Jess (9-4) at Wolverhampton 2m hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Jan.
Vin Chaud 11-2 (11-0) Held up in mid-division, not much room on inside 7f out, weakened 4f out, tailed off, 13th of 14, well behind Floral Spinner (11-1) at Hereford 2m 1f mares n h flat (6) gf in Aug.
One For The Girls 66-1 (9-5) Went right start, tracked leader, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened, 8th of 11, 41l behind Biggins Boy (9-5) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f mdn stks (5) pol in Jan.