always towards rear, lost touch over 3f out, tailed off
led, ridden and hung left over 1f out, headed towards finish
mid-division, headway and hung left over 1f out, no further progress
always behind, lost touch over 2f out
mid-division, headway over 3f out, weakened 1f out
half reared start, held up in rear, hung left well over 1f out, no headway
in touch, raced keenly, ridden well over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
slowly into stride, held up towards rear, headway over 2f out, ran on inside final furlong to lead towards finish
slightly hampered start, soon recovered to track leader, ridden over 2f out, carried slightly left entering final furlong, unable to quicken towards finish
in touch, pushed along over 3f out, outpaced over 2f out, no impression after
prominent, pushed along over 2f out, switched right when ridden over 1f out, kept on same pace
always in rear, lost touch over 3f out, tailed off
WILLING FOE gets the narrow vote over Astral Flower and Royal Etiquette. Saeed Bin Suroor has got his horses in sparkling form at present and his colt Willing Foe might just be good enough to make a winning racecourse debut. He catches the eye on breeding and he does have a good draw, so his chance is pretty obvious one. Astral Flower looks the best of those with racecourse experience but the chances are that she will need to improve significantly from what she showed on her debut if she is to get her head in front here. Royal Etiquette ran his best race yet at Ffos Las in September and he looks to be going the right way, but his high draw is far from ideal even over this trip. Marco Botti won this race last year so his representative Mercoliano is certainly worth a market check, while Reg Hollinshead does well with his runners here and Straversjoy does have the best of the draw. However, we will side with Willing Foe as the choice.
Another Character (USA) 80-1 (9-3) Slowly away, always behind, tailed off final 3f, last of 13, 46l behind Dahaam (9-3) at Kempton 1m 2yo mdn stks (4) pol in Oct.
Bowdler's Magic 14-1 (9-3) Always towards rear, 7th of 9, 14l behind Jupiter Fidius (9-0) at Musselburgh 1m 2yo mdn (5) gs in Oct.
Fusenam 50-1 (9-0) Towards rear, pushed along, never dangerous, 9th of 13, 23l behind Burnett (9-0) at Newcastle 1m mdn stks (5) gs in Oct.
Gold Party 10-1 (9-3) Chased leaders, ridden 3f out, weakened over 1f out, 8th of 13, 12l behind Diam Queen (8-12) at Folkestone 7f 2yo mdn aut (5) gf in Sep.
Katchmore (IRE) 66-1 (8-12) Slowly into stride, soon in touch, weakened over 2f out, 9th of 13, 17l behind Higgy's Ragazzo (9-3) at Chepstow 1m 2yo mdn aut (5) gd in Sep.
Lis Pendens 25-1 (9-3) Dwelt, soon in mid-division, pushed along halfway, behind final 3f, 11th of 13, 21l behind Ted Spread (9-3) at Goodwood 1m 1f 2yo mdn (4) gs in Oct.
Mercoliano 6-1 (8-12) Tracked leaders, ridden over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong, last of 4, 2 1/2l behind Crunched (8-12) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f 2yo mdn auc stks (5) pol in Oct.
Powerful Melody (USA) Dynaformer colt out of Song Track.
Royal Etiquette (IRE) 7-1 (9-0) Chased leaders, ridden 2f out, edged right over 1f out, kept on to go second well inside final furlong, not trouble winner, 2nd of 13, 1l behind Sharaayeen (9-0) at Ffos Las 1m 2yo mdn (4) gf in Sep.
Willing Foe (USA) Dynaformer colt out of Thunder Kitten.
Astral Flower 11-1 (8-12) Tracked leader to 5f out, stayed prominent until weakened well over 1f out, 5th of 12, 13l behind Sowaylm (9-3) at Lingfield 1m 2yo mdn auc stks (6) pol.
Lily Lily 40-1 (8-6) Slowly away, in rear, never nearer, 6th of 8, 19l behind First In The Queue (8-11) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f 2yo mdn auc stks (5) pol.
Straversjoy 150-1 (8-12) In touch, ridden over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 8th of 15, 15l behind Burj Nahar (9-3) at Nottingham 1m 2yo mdn (4) sft.