held up towards rear, took keen hold, rapid headway to lead over 5f out but hanging right and kept on hanging right after, headed inside final furlong, stayed on, just held
slowly into stride, held up towards rear, hanging left over 1f out, no impression
tracked leaders, driven 4f out, weakened over 1f out
chased leader until over 13f out, stayed handy, one pace final 2f
tracked leaders, went 2nd over 13f out until over 5f out, weakened over 1f out
led, headed over 5f out, stayed 2nd, led again inside final furlong, stayed on
held up in rear, headway over 1f out, went 3rd inside final furlong, no chance with front pair
mid-division, lost place over 4f out, tried to close 2f out but no impression and well beaten over 1f out
mid-division, not much room on inside over 2f out, some headway over 1f out, no impression on leaders
Battle Of Marathon went close over 1m6f here last time though earlier attempts over 2m fail to boost confidence so it could pay to stick with GREY MIST (NAP). The latter has notched five straight wins if also taking a success over hurdles into account and has won all three outings on the all-weather so far, including a victory over course and distance. He’s gone well fresh before and gets the vote. Noble Behest won a lower grade contest at Chelmsford last month but Rubenesque has every chance only 3lb higher than when scoring at Newcastle in October. Persian Sun attempts 2m for the first time and gets a change of headgear while In Demand debuts for Roger Charlton’s yard.
Battle Of Marathon (USA) 11-1 (9-7) Held up in mid-division, headway on outside over 2f out, challenged last bend, held final 100 yards, stayed on, 2nd of 8, 1/2l behind Rajinsky (9-7) at Wolverhampton 1m 6f hcp (4) pol in Dec.
Rubenesque (IRE) 6-1 (8-13) Disputed lead until led over 4f out, ridden 2f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 6, 2 3/4l behind Fun Mac (9-4) at Pontefract 2m 2f stks (2) sft in Oct.
Wemyss Point 20-1 (11-10) Led, joined after 6th, not fluent 5 out, headed after 3 out, weakened after next, 6th of 8, 8 1/2l behind Mahlervous (11-2) at Ayr 2m 5f hcp (2) gd in Apr.
Persian Sun 10-1 (9-0) Led after 1f, ridden over 2f out, headed inside final 2f, lost place 1f out, well held in 4th final furlong, 4th of 7, 6 1/4l behind Fearless Warrior (8-10) at Kempton 1m 4f hcp (4) pol in Nov.
Grey Mist 10-3 (9-3) Raced wide close up, chased leader 3f out, pushed along to lead over 1f out, ran on, won at Ripon 2m hcp (5) gs in May beating Divin Bere (9-3) by 2 3/4l, 13 ran.
Noble Behest 7-2 (10-0) Raced keenly, soon pressed leader on outside, led over 3f out, ridden over 2f out, held on under pressure final furlong, won at Chelmsford City 2m hcp (6) pol in Nov beating Land Of Winter (9-6) by 3/4l, 10 ran.
In Demand (IRE) 14-1 (9-8) Keen tracked leader, ridden and every chance over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong, 4th of 15, 6 1/4l behind Mr Smith (8-5) at Carlisle 2m 1f hcp (6) gs in Jun.
Solstalla 16-1 (10-4) Mid-division, closed 4th, jumped right 3 out, 4th and beaten next, one pace, 4th of 9, 15 1/2l behind Haafapiece (11-11) at Huntingdon 2m hcp (3) gs in Nov.
Doctor Jazz (IRE) 12-1 (8-7) Led and soon joined, ridden and headed halfway, weakened over 3f out, last of 7, 28 1/2l behind Contingency Fee (8-12) at Southwell 1m 4f hcp (5) pol in Nov.