slowly into stride, held up, headway over 2f out, chased winner over 1f out, edged left, ridden and hung right, effort when clipped winners heel just inside final furlong, stumbbled and lost 2nd place
held up, hung left throughout, ridden 4f out, headway under pressure approaching 2f out, left in 2nd place inside final furlong
made all, ridden and hung left over 1f out, ran on
chase winner to over 1f out
slowly into stride, always in rear, flashed tail throughout
close up, ridden and weakened 2f out
Souffleur showed plenty of promise on his Leicester debut as a juvenile, should appreciate this step up in trip and with the yard of Michael Bell in such good form lack of a recent run need not be of concern so he gets the vote ahead of Profitable and Alhaajes. The last mentioned was well beaten on his only start at two but is probably better than that and Barry Hills can normally be relied upon to have his runners ready at this time of year so the son of Bahri has to be respected. David Wachman's Cougar Bay has to be of interest stepping up to a more suitable trip. Similar comments apply to the Michael Jarvis-trained Galient, while Startengo and Husam both need to improve significantly on all known evidence. A bigger threat is likely to come from the Barry Hills-trained filly Profitable, who made her debut on sand in November and is another that should appreciate today's longer trip; however, it is hard to get away from Souffleur, who holds obvious claims.
Alhaajes (USA) 14-1 (9-0) Dwelt and took keen hold to go prominent, effort over 2f out, soon beaten, 11th of 14, 29l behind Shelhom (9-0) at Doncaster 7f 2yo mdn (5) gs in Oct.
Cougar Bay (IRE) 5-1 (9-2) Tracked leaders on inner, 4th halfway, close 3rd and challenged over 2f out, kept on under pressure, no extra well inside final furlong, 4th of 16, 2l behind Tusculum (9-2) at Navan 1m 2yo mdn sft in Oct.
Galient (IRE) 14-1 (9-0) Behind, some headway final 2f but no danger, 7th of 16, 17l behind Shahin (9-0) at Newbury 1m 2yo mdn (4) gs in Oct.
Souffleur 11-2 (8-8) In touch, ridden 3f out, stayed on to take 2nd inside final furlong, 2nd of 17, 2l behind Faversham (8-7) at Leicester 1m 2f mdn stk (5) gs.
Startengo (IRE) 10-1 (9-0) In touch, pushed along halfway, behind final 2f, 11th of 12, 12l behind Miss Highjinks (8-9) at Lingfield 1m 3yo mdn (5) pol in Jan.
Profitable 14-1 (8-9) Slowly into stride, held up in rear, pushed along over 3f out, headway and hampered approaching final furlong, ran on, 4th of 11, 3l behind I'm In Love (8-9) at Lingfield 1m 2yo mdn (5) pol in Nov.
Husam (IRE) 9-2co-fav (8-11) Slowly into stride, towards rear, never troubled leaders, 10th of 13, 8l behind Sigismundus (8-8) at Lingfield 7f 2yo mdn (5) pol in Dec.
