soon in last pair, pushed along and outpaced over 3f out, soon weakened and behind
slowly into stride, held up and behind, headway on outside into modest 4th on home turn
raced keenly and hung left most of way, chased leader until over 3f out, chased leaders, weakened over 2f out
soon tracking leaders and keen, went 3rd over 2f out, stayed on into 2nd towards finish, no chance with winner
tracked leaders on inside, switched right over 8f out, went 2nd over 3f out, shaken up to lead and edged left over 1f out, hung left inside final furlong, ran on well
led, ridden inside final 2f, headed over 1f out, not pace of winner, lost 2nd towards finish
HATHAL may not have won for some time but has placed in Listed races the last twice and has leading claims on these terms. He races mainly over a mile but has finished third in Group 2 company over 1m2f in the past and arrives in much better form that Carry On Deryck. The latter also has strong claims at the weights but hasn’t raced since this time last year when well beaten at Meydan and Goring is preferred having run well enough behind the higher-rated Wissahickon at Lingfield last time. The remaining trio looks up against it at this level including Michele Strogoff, who landed a couple of lower grade contests over track and trip at the end of last year.
Carry On Deryck 16-1 (9-0) 7th of 10, 6 1/2l behind Folkswood (9-0) at Meydan 1m 2f Grp 3 stks (1) gd in Feb.
Dragon Mall (USA) 20-1 (9-4) Dwelt, held up in rear, never on terms, 4th of 5, 6l behind Glassy Waters (8-13) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp (3) pol in Dec.
Gold Hunter (IRE) 40-1 (9-5) Raced keenly, with winner, lost place when ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, last of 10, 15 1/2l behind Tadaawol (9-4) at Redcar 7f hcp (4) gf in Sep.
Goring (GER) 14-1 (9-8) In touch, headway over 1f out, ridden to chase winner inside final furlong, lost 2 places final strides, 4th of 7, 2 1/2l behind Wissahickon (9-6) at Lingfield 1m 2f lst stks (1) pol in Dec.
Hathal (USA) (8-12) 3rd of 14, 1 1/2l behind Marianafoot (8-13) at Deauville 7f lst stks pol in Dec.
Michele Strogoff 2-1 (10-1) Missed break, made up lost ground to race in last pair after 2f, driven over 2f out, switched left and headway under pressure over 1f out, soon ridden, kept on, unable to challenge, 6th of 7, 2 3/4l behind Military Law (10-0) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (4) pol in Jan.
